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John Dryden Quotes

43 Great Quotes By John Dryden, England’s First Poet Laureate

Famous As: Poet

Born On: 1631

Died On: 1700

Born In: Aldwincle, Northamptonshire, England

Died At Age: 68

John Dryden was a famous English poet who was made the first Poet Laureate of England. He also worked as a literary critic, translator and playwright. The flexibility in his forms of writing marked him as a legend of the 17th century. He was one of the greatest poets and often compared to playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Ben Johnson. His mastery in prose, translation and literary criticism was unchallenged by his contemporaries. In his early days he worked with the civil service and wrote his first notable poem ‘Heroic Stanzas’ dedicated to the death of Lord Protector Cromwell. He further wrote poems which reflected his faith in the new government, and wrote poems for the masses which constituted a majority of his income. During the restoration period he got many opportunities to write plays but failed to justify his reputation. He then minimized his work as a playwright and started writing essays, poems and satires. His satires are believed to give a new direction and boomed the reputation of English satires. In his final years, he translated and simplified the classic English literary work for a living. The below collection of John Dryden’s most famous quotes have been excerpted from his writings, poems, satires, essays, plays, prose and thoughts. This collection of quotes by John Dryden is the easiest way to know his level of wisdom and his perspective of life.

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Writers

Poets

Bold knaves thrive without one grain of sense,
But good men starve for want of impudence.

Bold knaves thrive without one grain of sense, But good men starve for want of impudence.
John Dryden

Beware the fury of a patient man.
John Dryden

We first make our habits, then our habits make us.

We first make our habits, then our habits make us.
John Dryden

There is a pleasure sure in being mad which none but madmen know.

There is a pleasure sure in being mad which none but madmen know.
John Dryden

Great wits are to madness near allied
And thin partitions do their bounds divide.

Great wits are to madness near allied And thin partitions do their bounds divide.
John Dryden

I am sore wounded but not slain
I will lay me down and bleed a while
And then rise up to fight again

I am sore wounded but not slain I will lay me down and bleed a while And then rise up to fight again
Me Will I
John Dryden

Better shun the bait, than struggle in the snare.

Better shun the bait, than struggle in the snare.
John Dryden

Happy the man, and happy he alone, He who can call today his own: He who, secure within, can say, Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.

Happy the man, and happy he alone, He who can call today his own: He who, secure within, can say, Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.
Alone I
John Dryden

Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow;
He who would search for pearls, must dive below.

Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow; He who would search for pearls, must dive below.
Like
John Dryden

Secret guilt is by silence revealed.
John Dryden

…So when the last and dreadful hour
This crumbling pageant shall devour,
The trumpet shall be heard on high,
The dead shall live, the living die,
And Music shall untune the sky

…So when the last and dreadful hour This crumbling pageant shall devour, The trumpet shall be heard on high, The dead shall live, the living die, And Music shall untune the sky
Music Living
John Dryden

But far more numerous was the herd of such,
Who think too little, and who talk too much.

But far more numerous was the herd of such, Who think too little, and who talk too much.
Think
John Dryden

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.
John Dryden

Love is love's reward.
Love
John Dryden

I strongly wish for what I faintly hope; like the daydreams of melancholy men, I think and think in things impossible, yet love to wander in that golden maze.

I strongly wish for what I faintly hope; like the daydreams of melancholy men, I think and think in things impossible, yet love to wander in that golden maze.
Love Think Like I
John Dryden

Dancing is the poetry of the foot.
John Dryden

Look round the habitable world, how few
Know their own good, or, knowing it, pursue!

Look round the habitable world, how few Know their own good, or, knowing it, pursue!
John Dryden

Welcome, thou kind deceiver!
Thou best of thieves: who, with an easy key,
Dost open life, and, unperceived by us,
Even steal us from ourselves.

Welcome, thou kind deceiver! Thou best of thieves: who, with an easy key, Dost open life, and, unperceived by us, Even steal us from ourselves.
Life
John Dryden

Great wits are sure to madness near allied, and thin partitions do their bounds divide.

Great wits are sure to madness near allied, and thin partitions do their bounds divide.
John Dryden

Boldness is a mask for fear, however great.

Boldness is a mask for fear, however great.
Fear
John Dryden

Whatever is, is in its causes just;
But purblind man
Sees but a part o' th' chain; the nearest link;
His eyes not carrying to that equal beam
That poises all above.

Whatever is, is in its causes just; But purblind man Sees but a part o' th' chain; the nearest link; His eyes not carrying to that equal beam That poises all above.
John Dryden

None but the brave deserves the fair.
John Dryden

Let Fortune empty her whole quiver on me, I have a soul that, like an ample shield, Can take in all, and verge enough for more; Fate was not mine, nor am I Fate's: Souls know no conquerors.

Let Fortune empty her whole quiver on me, I have a soul that, like an ample shield, Can take in all, and verge enough for more; Fate was not mine, nor am I Fate's: Souls know no conquerors.
Me Like Soul I
John Dryden