Walter Raleigh Quotations

Fain would I climb, yet fear I to fall.

Whosoever, in writing a modern history, shall follow truth too near the heels, it may happily strike out his teeth.

The first draught serveth for health, the second for pleasure, the third for shame, the fourth for madness.

Love is a durable fire in the mind ever burning; never sick, never old, never dead from itself never turning.

If the heart be right, it matters not which way the head lies

Whoso taketh in hand to govern a multitude, either by way of liberty or principality, and cannot assure himself of those persons that are enemies to that enterprise, doth frame a state of short perseverance.

Let valour end my life!

Speaking much is a sign of vanity, for he that is lavish with words is a niggard in deed

No man is esteemed for gay garments but by fools and women

The world itself is but a large prison, out of which some are daily led to execution.

In examinations, those who do now wish to know ask questions of those who cannot tell.

The difference between a rich man and a poor man, is this - the former eats hen when he pleases, and the latter when he can get it

The gain of lying is, not to be trusted of any, nor to be believed when we speak the truth

Better it were not to live than to live a coward.

There never was a man of solid understanding, whose apprehensions are sober, and by a pensive inspection advised, but that he hath found by an irresistible necessity one true God and everlasting being.

When a felon's not engaged in his employment Or maturing his felonious little plans His capacity for innocent enjoyment Is just as great as any honest man's Ah! When constabulary duty's to be done A policeman's lot is not a happy one.

Oh, doughty sons of Hungary! May all success Attend and bless Your warlike ironmongery!

A wandering minstrel I A thing of shreds and patches Of ballads, songs and snatches And dreamy lullaby!

Flatterers are the worst kind of traitors, for they will strengthen thy imperfections, encourage thee in all evils, correct thee in nothing, but so shadow and paint thy follies and vices as thou shalt never, by their will, discover good from evil, or vice from virtue.

Never spend anything before thou have it; for borrowing is the canker and death of every man's estate.

To live thy better, let thy worst thoughts die.

I dare not think that any supercelestial heaven, or whatsoever else ... was increate and eternal. And as for the place of God before the world created, the finite wisdom of mortal men hath no perception of it; neither can it limit the seat of infinite power, no more than infinite power itself can be limited; for his place is in himself, whom no magnitude else can contain.

What is our life? A play of passion. Our mirth the music of division. Our mother's wombs the tyring houses be, Where we are drest for this short Comedy.

What dependence can I have on the alleged events of ancient history, when I find such difficulty in ascertaining the truth regarding a matter that has taken place only a few minutes ago, and almost in my own presence!

Covetous ambition, thinking all too little which presently it hath, supposeth itself to stand in need of that which it hath not.

But in vain she did conjure him, To depart her presence so, Having a thousand tongues t' allure him And but one to bid him go. When lips invite, And eyes delight, And cheeks as fresh as rose in June, Persuade delay,-- What boots to say Forego me now, come to me soon.

It is not truth, but opinion that can travel the world without a passport.

No mortal thing can bear so high a price, But that with mortal thing it may be bought.

Who so desireth to know what will be hereafter, let him think of what is past, for the world hath ever been in a circular revolution; whatsoever is now, was heretofore; and things past or present, are no other than such as shall be again: Redit orbis in orbem.

Corrupt seeds bring forth corrupt plants.

Whoso desireth to govern well and securely, it behoveth him to have a vigilant eye to the proceedings of great princes, and to consider seriously of their designs.

Whosoever in writing a modern history shall follow the truth too near the heels it may haply strike out his teeth.

Divine is Love and scorneth worldly pelf, And can be bought with nothing but with self.

There is nothing exempt from the peril of mutation; the earth, heavens, and whole world is thereunto subject.

I can't write a book commensurate with Shakespeare, but I can write a book by me.

Use your youth so that you may have comfort to remember it when it has forsaken you, and not sigh and grieve at the account thereof.

Passions are likened best to floods and streams: The shallow murmur, but the deep are dumb.

If she undervalues me, What care I how fair she be?

The world is but a large prison, out of which some are daily selected for execution.

No one is wise or safe, but they that are honest.

Historians desiring to write the actions of men, ought to set down the simple truth, and not say anything for love or hatred; also to choose such an opportunity for writing as it may be lawful to think what they will, and write what they think, which is a rare happiness of the time.

Even such is time, that takes in trust Our youth, our joys, our all we have, And pays us but with age and dust.

Men endure the losses that befall them by mere casualty with more patience than the damages they sustain by injustice.

But it is hard to know them from friends, they are so obsequious and full of protestations; for a wolf resembles a dog, so doth a flatterer a friend.

Even such isTime, which takes in trust Our youth, our joys, and all we have, And pays us but with age and dust, Who in the dark and silent grave When we have wandered all our ways Shuts up the story of our days, And from which earth, and grave, and dust The Lord shall raise me up, I trust.

Love likes not the falling fruit, Nor the withered tree.

Take special care that thou never trust any friend or servant with any matter that may endanger thine estate; for so shalt thou make thyself a bond-slave to him that thou trustest, and leave thyself always to his mercy.

Trust few men; above all, keep your follies to yourself.

The bodies of men, munition, and money may justly be called the sinews of war.

There is no error which hath not some appearance of probability resembling truth, which, when men who study to be singular find out, straining reason, they then publish to the world matter of contention and jangling.

Because all men are apt to flatter themselves, to entertain the addition of other men's praises is most perilous.

According to Solomon, life and death are in the power of the tongue; and as Euripides truly affirmeth, every unbridled tongue in the end shall find itself unfortunate; for in all that ever I observed in the course of worldly things, I ever found that men's fortunes are oftener made by their tongues than by their virtues, and more men's fortunes overthrown thereby, also, than by their vices.

It were better for a man to be subject to any vice than to drunkenness; for all other vanities and sins are recovered, but a drunkard will never shake off the delight of beastliness.

The longer it possesseth a man the more he will delight in it, and the older he groweth the more he shall be subject to it; for it dulleth the spirits, and destroyeth the body as ivy doth the old tree, or as the worm that engendereth in the kernal of the nut.

The difference between a rich man and a poor man is this--the former eats when he pleases, and the latter when he can get it.

It is plain there is not in nature a point of stability to be found; everything either ascends or declines; when wars are ended abroad, sedition begins at home; and when men are freed from fighting for necessity, they quarrel through ambition.

Hath triumphed over time, which besides it nothing but eternity hath triumphed over.

Give my scallop-shell of quiet, My staff of faith to walk upon, My scrip of joy, immortal diet, My bottle of salvation, My gown of glory, hope's true gage; And thus I'll take my pilgrimage.

No man is esteemed for colorful garments except by fools and women.

Who so taketh in hand to frame any state or government ought to presuppose that all men are evil, and at occasions will show themselves so to be.

Be advised what thou dost discourse of, and what thou maintainest whether touching religion, state, or vanity; for if thou err in the first, thou shalt be accounted profane; if in the second, dangerous; if in the third, indiscreet and foolish.

Romance is a love affair in other than domestic surroundings.

If thy friends be of better quality than thyself, thou mayest be sure of two things; first, they will be more careful to keep thy counsel, because they have more to lose than thou hast; the second, they will esteem thee for thyself, and not for that which thou dost possess.

In a letter to a friend the thought is often unimportant, and the feeling, if it be only a desire to entertain him, every thing.

A professional man of letters, especially if he is much at war with unscrupulous enenemies, is naturally jealous of his privacy... so it was, I think, with Dryden.

Fain would I, but I dare not; I dare, and yet I may not; I may, although I care not, for pleasure when I play not.

O eloquent, just, and mighty Death! whom none could advise, thou hast persuaded; what none hath dared, thou hast done; and whom all the world hath flattered, thou only hath cast out of the world and despised. Thou hast drawn together all the far-stretched greatness, all the pride, cruelty, and ambition of man, and covered it all over with these two narrow words, Hic jacet!

Youth is the opportunity to do something and to be somebody.

Desire attained is not desire, But as the cinders of the fire.

All men are evil and will declare themselves to be so when occasion is offered.

And when I'm introduced to one I wish I thought What Jolly Fun!

The necessity of war, which among human actions is the most lawless, hath some kind of affinity with the necessity of law.

The useful type of successful teacher is one whose main interest is the children, not the subject.

It is observed in the course of worldly things, that men's fortunes are oftener made by their tongues than by their virtues; and more men's fortunes overthrown thereby than by vices.

Less pains in the world a man cannot take than to bold his tongue.

Above all things, be not made an ass to carry the burdens of other men if any friend desire thee to be his surety, give him a part of what thou has to spare if he presses thee further, he is not thy friend at all.

If any friend desire thee to be his surety, give him a part of what thou hast to spare; if he press thee further, he is not thy friend at all, for friendship rather chooseth harm to itself than offereth it. If thou be bound for a stranger, thou art a fool; if for a merchant, thou puttest thy estate to learn to swim.

Silence in love betrays more woe - Than words though ne'er so witty; A beggar that is dumb, you know, may challenge double pity.

Our bodies are but the anvils of pain and disease and our minds the hives of unnumbered cares.

Bad language or abuse, I never, never use, Whatever the emergency; Though 'Bother it' I may Occasionally say, I never use a big, big D : What, never? : No, never! : What never? : Well, hardly ever! : Hardly ever swears a big, big D Then give three cheers, and one cheer more, For the well-bred Captain of the Pinafore!

It would be an unspeakable advantage, both to the public and private, if men would consider that great truth, that no man is wise or safe but he that is honest.

The most divine light only shineth on those minds which are purged from all worldly dross and human uncleanliness.

Except thou desire to hasten thine end, take this for a general rule, that thou never add any artificial heat to thy body by wine or spice.

Our shipping and sea service is our best and safest defence as being the only fortification and rampart of England.

An anthology is like all the plums and orange peel picked out of a cake.

God is absolutely good; and so, assuredly, the cause of all that is good.

It is, it is a glorious thing To be a Pirate King.

Expressive glances Shall be our lances And pops of Sillery Our light artillery.

Death, which hateth and destroyeth a man, is believed; God, which hath made him and loves him, is always deferred.

If thou marry beauty, thou bindest thyself all thy life for that which, perchance, will neither last nor please thee one year.

Our souls, piercing through the impurity of flesh, behold the highest heaven, and thence bring knowledge to contemplate the ever-during, glory and termless joy.

Our immortal souls, while righteous, are by God himself beautified with the title of his own image and similitude.

Better were it to be unborn than to be ill bred.

The best time for marriage will be towards thirty, for as the younger times are unfit, either to choose or to govern a wife and family, so, if thou stay long, thou shalt hardly see the education of thy children, who, being left to strangers, are in effect lost; and better were it to be unborn than ill-bred; for thereby thy posterity shall either perish, or remain a shame to thy name.

Passions are liken'd best to floods and streams: The shallow murmur, but the deep are dumb; So, when affection yields discourse, it seems The bottom is but shallow whence they come. They that are rich in words, in words discover

Whoever commands the sea, commands the trade; whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself.

'Tis a sharp medicine, but it will cure all that ails you.

All histories do show, and wise politicians do hold it necessary that, for the well-governing of every Commonweal, it behoveth man to presuppose that all men are evil, and will declare themselves so to be when occasion is offered.

There is nothing more becoming any wise man, than to make choice of friends, for by them thou shalt be judged what thou art: let them therefore be wise and virtuous, and none of those that follow thee for gain; but make election rather of thy betters, than thy inferiors.

War begets quiet, quiet idleness, idleness disorder, disorder ruin; likewise ruin order, order virtue, virtue glory, and good fortune.