The voices / 44 fragments

William Congreve

1670 AD — 1729 AD

Listed in the author section of Bartlett’s ninth-edition anthology, in the linked 1905 printing. Dates reflect that historical edition and may differ from modern scholarship.

Author and source reference ↗

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Historical source references

The Mourning Bride
The Way of the World
Love for Love
The Old Bachelor
Letter to Cobham
Printed citation: Congreve
Number 831 · printed citation: Congreve
Page 48 · printed citation: Congreve · subject: AWE
Page 547 · printed citation: Congreve · subject: SLANDER
Page 600 · printed citation: Congreve · subject: THOUGHT
Page 220 · printed citation: Congreve · subject: Reading
Page 256 · printed citation: Congreve · subject: Talking
Page 276 · printed citation: Congreve · subject: Wife
Page 277 · printed citation: Congreve · subject: Wisdom
Page 169 · printed citation: Congreve · subject: Matrimony

Archive entries

01c. 1699 AD

Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.

William Congreve / quote

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02c. 1699 AD

By magic numbers and persuasive sound.

William Congreve / quote

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03c. 1699 AD

Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.

William Congreve / quote

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04c. 1699 AD

For blessings ever wait on virtuous deeds, And though a late, a sure reward succeeds.

William Congreve / quote

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05c. 1699 AD

If there 's delight in love, 't is when I see That heart which others bleed for, bleed for me.

William Congreve / quote

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06c. 1699 AD

Ferdinand Mendez Pinto was but a type of thee, thou liar of the first magnitude.

William Congreve / quote

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07c. 1699 AD

I came up stairs into the world, for I was born in a cellar.

William Congreve / quote

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08c. 1699 AD

Hannibal was a very pretty fellow in those days.

William Congreve / quote

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09c. 1699 AD

Thus grief still treads upon the heels of pleasure; Married in haste, we may repent at leisure.

William Congreve / quote

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10c. 1699 AD

Defer not till to-morrow to be wise, To-morrow's sun to thee may never rise.

William Congreve / quote

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11Undated

Guilt is ever at a loss, and confusion waits upon it.

William Congreve / quote

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12Undated

Marriage, indeed, may qualify the fury of his passion, but it very rarely mends a man's manners.

William Congreve / quote

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13Undated

Married in haste, we may repent at leisure.

William Congreve / quote

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14Undated

Uncertainty and expectation are the joys of life.

William Congreve / quote

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15Undated

Whoever is king, is also the father of his country.

William Congreve / quote

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16Undated

I think you the happiest couple in the world; for you are not only happy in one another, but happy in yourselves, and by yourselves.

William Congreve / quote

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17Undated

’T is dreadful! How reverend is the place of this tall pile, Whose ancient pillars rear their marble heads, To bear aloft the arched and pond’rous roof, By its own weight made steadfast and immoveable! Looking tranquillity; it strikes an awe And terror to my aching sight. The tombs And monumental caves of death look cold, And shoot a chillness to my trembling heart.

William Congreve / quote

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18Undated

Imperfect mischief! Thou, like an adder, venomous and deaf, Hast stung the traveller, yet hear’st Not his pursuing voice. E’en when thou think’st To hide, the rustling leaves and bended grass Confess and point the path where thou hast crept.

William Congreve / quote

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19Undated

His pure thoughts were borne Like fumes of sacred incense o’er the clouds, And wafted thence on angels’ wings, through ways Of light to the bright Source of all.

William Congreve / quote

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20Undated

Read, and refine your appetite; learn to live upon instruction; feast your mind and mortify your flesh; read, and take your nourishment in at your eyes, shut up your mouth, and chew the cud of understanding.

William Congreve / quote

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21Undated

I know a lady that loves talking so incessantly, she won't give an echo fair play; she has that everlasting rotation of tongue, that an echo must wait till she dies, before it can catch her last words!

William Congreve / quote

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22Undated

Thy wife is a constellation of virtues; she's the moon, and thou art the man in the moon.

William Congreve / quote

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23Undated

You read of but one wise man, and all that he knew was—that he knew nothing.

William Congreve / quote

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24Undated

Married in haste, we repent at leisure.

William Congreve / quote

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William Congreve

Archive entries

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Meditations

The Republic

Tao Te Ching