His Comoedies will remaine witt as long as the English tongue is understood, for that he handles mores hominum [the ways of mankind]. Now our present writers reflect so much on particular persons and coxcombeities that twenty yeares hence they will not be understood.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Comedies that reflect general human behavior will outlast works focused on specific individuals or shallow fashions.
- In plain terms
- Works about human nature last longer than those about specific people or trends.
- What can you take from it?
- Universal themes endure while specific details fade.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What makes a work timeless?
- How do you balance specific and general themes?
Another view
Some specific satire may remain valuable even as context shifts.
More from John Aubrey
His father was a Butcher, and I have been told heretofore by some of the neighbours, that when he was a boy he exercised his father's Trade, but when he kill'd…
Permalink to quote #15 Anno 1670, not far from Cyrencester, was an Apparition: Being demanded, whether a good Spirit, or a bad? returned no answer, but disappeared with a curious Per…
Permalink to quote #17 Sir Walt, being strangely supprized and putt out of his countenance at so great a Table, gives his son a damned blow over the face; his son, as rude as he was,…
Permalink to quote #14
Related quotes
At present, I am a poet trying to be a soldier. To tell the truth, I am not interested in writing nowadays, except in so far as writing is the expression of so…
Joyce KilmerJoyce Kilmer quote #1 Literature is analysis after the event.
Doris LessingDoris Lessing quote #5 It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.
Henry JamesHenry James quote #7