26+ William Davenant Quotes On Religion, Slavery And Education

William Davenant was an English poet, playwright, and theatre manager in the 17th century. He was the first poet laureate of England, appointed by King Charles I in 1638. He is best known for his plays and masques, as well as for his adaptation of Shakespeare's plays into operas. Following is our collection on famous quotes by William Davenant on religion, slavery, education.

Top 10 William Davenant Quotes

1. Anger is blood, poured and perplexed into froth; but malice is the wisdom of our wrath.
2. Calamity is the perfect glass wherein we truly see and know ourselves.
3. All slander must still be strangled in its birth, or time will soon conspire to make it strong enough to overcome the truth.
4. It is the wit and policy of sin to hate those we have abused.
5. Since knowledge is but sorrow's spy, It is not safe to know.
6. Fame, like the river, is narrowest where it is bred, and broadest afar off.
7. Honor is the moral conscience of the great.
8. Think not ambition wise, because 't is brave.
9. Generous souls Are still most subject to credulity.
10. Ambition's monstrous stomach does increase By eating, and it fears to starve, unless It still may feed, and all it sees devour; Ambition is not tir'd with toll nor cloy'd with power.

William Davenant Short Quotes

• For in a dearth of comforts, we art taught To be contented with the least.
• Small are the seeds fate does unheeded sow Of slight beginnings to important ends.
• Ambition is the mind's immodesty.
• Had laws not been, we never had been blam'd; For not to know we sinn'd is innocence.
• What one cannot, another can.
• All jealousy must be strangled in its birth.
• The assembled souls of all that men held wise.
• Faith lights us through the dark to Deity.
• Slow seems their speed whose thoughts before them run.

William Davenant Famous Quotes And Sayings

Be not with honor's gilded baits beguil'd, Nor think ambition wise, because 'tis brave; For though we like it, as a forward child, 'Tis so unsound, her cradle is the grave. — William Davenant

Actions rare and sudden do commonly proceed from fierce necessity, of else from some oblique design, which is ashamed to show itself in the public road. — William Davenant

How beautiful is sorrow when it is dressed by virgin innocence! it makes felicity in others seem deformed. — William Davenant

O harmless Death! whom still the valiant brave, The wise expect, the sorrowful invite, And all the good embrace, who know the grave A short dark passage to eternal light. — William Davenant

Go! dive into the Southern Sea, and when Th'ast found, to trouble the nice sight of men, A swelling pearl, and such whose single worth Boasts all the wonders which the seas bring forth, Give it Endymion's love, whose ev'ry tear Would more enrich the skilful jeweller. — William Davenant

How much pleasure they lose (and even the pleasures of heroic poesy are not unprofitable) who take away the liberty of a poet, and fetter his feet in the shackles of a historian. — William Davenant

To be rich be diligent; move on Like heav'ns great movers that enrich the earth; Whose moment's sloth would show the world undone; And make the spring straight bury all her birth. Rich are the diligent who can command Time--nature's stock. — William Davenant

Life Lessons by William Davenant

1. William Davenant's work demonstrates the power of the imagination and its ability to create beauty and meaning in even the most difficult of circumstances.
2. His work also highlights the importance of collaboration and the value of working together to create something greater than the individual parts.
3. Finally, Davenant's work shows us the importance of resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity, and how to use our creativity to overcome any obstacle.