57+ John Webster Quotes On Religion, Education And Slavery

John Webster was an English Jacobean playwright who wrote during the early 17th century. He is best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, which are considered some of the greatest plays of the Jacobean era. Webster was heavily influenced by the works of William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. Following is our collection on famous quotes by John Webster on religion, education, slavery.

Top 10 John Webster Quotes

1. Whether we fall by ambition, blood, or lust, like diamonds we are cut with our own dust.
2. Lay this unto your breast: Old friends, like old swords, still are trusted best.
3. Eagles commonly fly alone. They are crows, daws, and starlings that flock together.
4. The chiefest action for a man of great spirit is never to be out of action... the soul was never put into the body to stand still.
5. There is not in nature, a thing that makes man so deformed, so beastly, as does intemperate anger.
6. Cowardly dogs bark loudest.
7. See, a good habit makes a child a man, Whereas a bad one makes a man a beast.
8. Sorrow is held the eldest child of sin.
9. Is not old wine wholesomest, old pippins toothsomest, old wood burn brightest, old linen wash whitest? Old soldiers, sweethearts, are surest, and old lovers are soundest.
10. Glories, like glow-worms, afar off shine bright, But looked to near, have neither heat nor light.

John Webster Short Quotes

• That friend a great man's ruin strongly checks, who rails into his belief all his defects.
• Gold that buys health can never be ill spent, Nor hours laid out in harmless merriment.
• Ambition, madam, is a great man's madness.
• Let guilty men remember, their black deedsDo lean on crutches made of slender reeds.
• When a man's mind rides faster than his horse can gallop they quickly both tire.
• Cover her face; mine eyes dazzle. She died young.
• We are merely the stars tennis-balls, struck and bandied which way please them.
• I account this world a tedious theater, For I do play a part in 't 'gainst my will.
• How tedious is a guilty conscience!
• Oh, yes, thy sins Do run before thee to fetch fire from hell, To light thee thither.

John Webster Famous Quotes And Sayings

See, the curse of children! In life they keep us frequently in tears, And in the cold grave leave us in pale fears. — John Webster

In all our quest of greatness, like wanton boys, whose pastime is their care, we follow after bubbles, blown in the air. — John Webster

DUCHESS: Diamonds are of most value,They say, that have past through most jewellers' hands.FERDINAND: Whores, by that rule, are precious. — John Webster

Imyself haveheard averygood jest, and havescornedto seem to have so sillya wit as to understand it. — John Webster

Poor maids have more lovers than husbands. — John Webster

Fortune's a right whore. If she give ought, she deals it in small parcels, that she may take away all at one swoop. — John Webster

I am Duchess of Malfi still. — John Webster

I have long served virtue, And never ta'en wages of her. — John Webster

When we prohibit others from being different, we end up forfeiting our own right to Liberty. — John Webster

Man is most happy, when his own actions are arguments and examples of his virtue. — John Webster

Were there no heaven nor hell I should be honest. — John Webster

I myself have loved a lady and pursued her with a great deal of under-age protestation, whom some three or four gallants that have enjoyed would with all their hearts have been glad to have been rid of. 'Tis just like a summer birdcage in a garden: the birds that are without despair to get in, and the birds that are within despair and are in a consumption for fear they shall never get out. — John Webster

Lust carries her sharp whip At her own girdle. — John Webster

'Tis better to be fortunate than wise. — John Webster

The soul was never put in the body to stand still. — John Webster

Knowledge Is Power! Train smart and obtain power! — John Webster

The weakest arm is strong enough, that strikesWith the sword of justice. — John Webster

Man may his fate foresee, but not prevent. 'Tis better to be fortunate than wise. — John Webster

Woman to man Is either a God or a wolfe. — John Webster

Physicians are like kings- They brook no contradiction. — John Webster

A powerful portfolio of physiological and behavioural evidence now exists to support the case that fish feel pain and that this feeling matters. In the face of such evidence, any argument to the contrary based on the claim that fish 'do not have the right sort of brain' can no longer be called scientific. It is just obstinate. — John Webster

How many ills spring from adultery? First the supreme law that is violated, Nobility oft stain'd with bastardy, Inheritance of land falsely possessed, The husband scorn'd, wife sham'd, and babes unbless'd. — John Webster

Prosperity does bewitch men, seeming clear;As seas do laugh, show white, when rocks are near. — John Webster

A politician is the devil's quilted anvil; He fashions all sins on him, and the blows are never heard. — John Webster

The misery of us, that are born great, We are forced to woo because none dare woo us. — John Webster

Heaven fashioned us of nothing; and we strive to bring ourselves to nothing. — John Webster

All things do help the unhappy man to fall. — John Webster

Vain ambition of kings Who seek by trophies and dead things To leave a living name behind, And weave but nets to catch the wind. — John Webster

That realm is never long in quiet, where the ruler is a soldier. — John Webster

Are you grown an atheist? Will you turn your body, Which is the goodly palace of the soul, To the soul's slaughter-house? Oh, the curse' d devil, Which doth present us with all other sins Thrice-candied o'er. — John Webster

I do love these ancient ruins. We never tread upon them but we set Our foot upon some reverend history. — John Webster

When I go to hell, I mean to carry a bribe: for look you, good gifts evermore make way for the worst persons. — John Webster

For the subtlest folly proceeds from the subtlest wisdom. — John Webster

Do you not weep? Other sins only speak; murder shrieks out. The element of water moistens the earth, But blood flies upwards and bedews the heavens. — John Webster

All the damnable degrees Of drinking have you staggered through. — John Webster

Love mixed with fear is sweetness. — John Webster

Though lust do masque in ne'er so strange disguise she's oft found witty, but is never wise. — John Webster

Life Lessons by John Webster

1. John Webster's works emphasize the importance of resilience in the face of adversity, as his characters often experience great suffering but ultimately find a way to persevere.
2. He also teaches us to be wary of the power of ambition, as it can often lead to destruction and tragedy.
3. Finally, John Webster's plays demonstrate the importance of loyalty, as his characters often find strength in their relationships with one another.