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Oliver Goldsmith

Oliver Goldsmith Quotes

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Famous Oliver Goldsmith Quotes

“Men may be very learned, and yet very miserable; it is easy to be a deep geometrician, or a sublime astronomer, but very difficult to be a good man. I esteem, therefore, the traveller who instructs the heart, but despise him who only indulges the imagination. A man who leaves home to mend himself and others, is a philosopher; but he who goes from country to country, guided by the blind impulse of curiosity, is only a vagabond.”

MenHeartMayCountryHomeEasyDifficultImaginationBlindCuriosityPhilosopherEsteemMiserableImpulseGood ManDespiseSublimeIndulgeTravellerAstronomersVagabonds
Book:The works of Oliver Goldsmith. 2: Enquiry into the present state of polite learning; The citizen of the world
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“Near yonder copse, where once the garden smil'd, And still where many a garden flower grows wild, There, where a few torn shrubs the place disclose, The village preacher's modest mansion rose. A man he was to all the country dear, And passing rich with forty pounds a year; Remote from town's he ran his godly race, Nor e'er had chang'd nor wish'd to change his place; Unskilful he to fawn, or seek for power, By doctrines fashion'd to the varying hour; Far other aims his heart had learn'd to prize. More bent to raise the wretched than to rise.”

MenYearsHeartStillsCountryWishGrowsHoursRaceRichFashionFlowerGardenTownsAimRaisesRoseDearPassingDoctrinePassingsRanFortyPoundsPrizeVillagePreacherModestBentTornGodlyWretchedMansionsClergymenShrubsFawns
Book:The Miscellaneous Works: Poems. Miscellaneous pieces. Dramas. Criticism relating to poetry and the belles-lettres
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“The polite of every country seem to have but one character. A gentleman of Sweden differs but little, except in trifles, from one of any other country. It is among the vulgar we are to find those distinctions which characterize a people.”

PeopleLittlesCountryCharacterSeemsGentlemanDistinctionOther CountriesPoliteVulgarPolitenessTriflesSweden
Book:An inquiry into the present state of polite learning. The Bee. History of Cyrillo Padovano. Life of Dr. Parnell. Life of Lord Bolingbroke. Prefaces and introductions
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“It has been remarked that almost every character which has excited either attention or pity has owed part of its success to merit, and part to a happy concurrence of circumstances in its favor. Had Caesar or Cromwell exchanged countries, the one might have been a sergeant and the other an exciseman.”

Has BeensCountryCharacterMightAttentionCircumstancesFortuneExcitedFavorsPityMeritMight Have BeenSergeantsConcurrenceCromwell
Book:Essays and poems, by Dr. Oliver Goldsmith. To which are prefixed, memoirs of the author
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“A man who leaves home to mend himself and others is a philosopher; but he who goes from country to country, guided by the blind impulse of curiosity, is a vagabond.”

MenCountryHomeTravelBlindCuriosityPhilosopherImpulseBlindnessTourismTravel And TourismVagabonds
Book:The Citizen of the World; Or, Letters from a Chinese Philosopher: Residing in London, to His Friends in the Country
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“Whatever the skill of any country may be in the sciences, it is from its excellence in polite learning alone that it must expect a character from posterity.”

MayCountryCharacterScienceLearningSkillsExcellencePolitePosterity
Book:An inquiry into the present state of polite learning. The Bee. History of Cyrillo Padovano. Life of Dr. Parnell. Life of Lord Bolingbroke. Prefaces and introductions
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