Quote #18

Necessity may be the mother of lucrative invention, but it is the death of poetical.

More from William Shenstone

  1. A man has generally the good or ill qualities which he attributes to mankind.
  2. There seem near as many people that want passion as want reason.
  3. Zealous men are ever displaying to you the strength of their belief, while judicious men are shewing you the grounds of it.
  4. Some men are called sagacious, merely on account of their avarice: whereas a child can clench its fist the moment it is born.
  5. A little bench of heedless bishops here, And there a chancellor in embryo.
  6. Her cap, far whiter than the driven snow, Emblems right meet of decency does yield.
  7. For seldom shall she hear a tale So sad, so tender, and so true.
  8. My banks they are furnish'd with bees, Whose murmur invites one to sleep.

All William Shenstone quotes