John Dryden was a famous English poet who was made the first Poet Laureate of England. He also worked as a literary critic, translator and playwright. The flexibility in his forms of writing marked him as a legend of the 17th century. He was one of the greatest poets and often compared to playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Ben Johnson. His mastery in prose, translation and literary criticism was unchallenged by his contemporaries. In his early days he worked with the civil service and wrote his first notable poem ‘Heroic Stanzas’ dedicated to the death of Lord Protector Cromwell. He further wrote poems which reflected his faith in the new government, and wrote poems for the masses which constituted a majority of his income. During the restoration period he got many opportunities to write plays but failed to justify his reputation. He then minimized his work as a playwright and started writing essays, poems and satires. His satires are believed to give a new direction and boomed the reputation of English satires. In his final years, he translated and simplified the classic English literary work for a living. The below collection of John Dryden’s most famous quotes have been excerpted from his writings, poems, satires, essays, plays, prose and thoughts. This collection of quotes by John Dryden is the easiest way to know his level of wisdom and his perspective of life.
…So when the last and dreadful hour
This crumbling pageant shall devour,
The trumpet shall be heard on high,
The dead shall live, the living die,
And Music shall untune the sky
It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.
John Dryden
I strongly wish for what I faintly hope; like the daydreams of melancholy men, I think and think in things impossible, yet love to wander in that golden maze.
Whatever is, is in its causes just;
But purblind man
Sees but a part o' th' chain; the nearest link;
His eyes not carrying to that equal beam
That poises all above.
John Dryden
Let Fortune empty her whole quiver on me, I have a soul that, like an ample shield, Can take in all, and verge enough for more; Fate was not mine, nor am I Fate's: Souls know no conquerors.
The winds that never moderation knew,
Afraid to blow too much, too faintly blew;
Or out of breath with joy, could not enlarge
Their straighten'd lungs or conscious of their charge.
Whence but from heaven, could men unskilled in arts,
In several ages born, in several parts,
Weave such agreeing truths? Or how, or why,
Should all conspire to cheat us with a lie?
John Dryden
Must I at length the Sword of Justice draw?
Oh curst Effects of necessary Law!
How ill my Fear they by my Mercy scan,
Beware the Fury of a Patient Man.
If others in the same Glass better see
'Tis for Themselves they look, but not for me:
For my Salvation must its Doom receive
Not from what others, but what I believe.
For whatsoe'er their sufferings were before,
That change they covet makes them suffer more.
All other errors but disturb a state;
But innovation is the blow of fate.
