Matthew Prior

“Nobles and heralds, by your leave, Here lies what once was Matthew Prior; The son of Adam and of Eve; Can Bourbon or Nassau go higher?”

“Be to her virtues very kind; Be to her faults a little blind.”

“For hope is but the dream of those that wake.”

“They never taste who always drink; They always talk who never think.”

“Pain is the parent of pleasure.”

“Who breathes must suffer, and who thinks must mourn; And he alone is bless'd who ne'er was born.”

“From ignorance our comfort flows, The only wretched are the wise.”

“Of two evils, the less is always to be chosen.”

“That if weak women went astray, Their stars were more in fault than they.”

“Abra was ready ere I called her name; And though I called another, Abra came.”

“For what are the stars but points in the book of nature where we may read the glory of God.”

“And when I could not prosper in my way, I cursed the stars; but the fault was in me.”

“For the man who labours and thrives spins gold.”

“Venus, take my votive glass; Since I am not what I was; What from this day I shall be, Venus, let me never see.”