A collection of quotes by John Gay about love, self, brave, mercy, friendship, marriage, hope, evil and more.
Famous As: Dramatist & Poet
Born In: Barnstaple
British Poet and Playwright, john Gay is best known for âThe Beggarâs Operaâ, a ballad opera. Orphaned at the age of 10, John studied at a local school and at the age of 17 he started working as a silk dealer in London. âWineâ was the first poem published by him. Later he published his first prose titled âThe Present State of Witâ. During 1712-1714 he is said to have published most of his work. In the year 1713, Gay published two essays, six poems and a play. His poem âthe Arts of Walking the Streets of Londonâ was published in three books. John had a close association with Alexander Pope, another prominent writer of the time, who helped him in producing a skit titled âWhat dâye calls it? One of his most noted works was âThe Beggarâs Operaâ, which was a ballad opera. This play became so popular that it ran for more than sixty nights. His work and poery are a great source of wise, funny and serious thoughts about life, love, friendship, God, happiness, and other things. His words are famous as his quotes and people often quotes these to this day. We have collected some of his most famous quotes from his works.
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A man is always afraid of a woman that loves him too much
John Gay
Shadow owes its birth to light.
John Gay
My Own Epitaph Life's a jest, and all things show it. I thought so once, and now I know it.
John Gay
Lions, wolves, and vultures don't live together in herds, droves or flocks. Of all animals of prey, man is the only sociable one. Every one of us preys upon his neighbor, and yet we herd together.
John Gay
An open foe may prove a curse, but a pretended friend is worse.
John Gay
There is no dependence that can be sure but a dependence upon one's self.
John Gay
Cowards are cruel, but the brave love mercy and delight to save.
John Gay
Love is so whimsical in both sexes that it is impossible to be lasting. But my heart is particular and contradicts my own observation.
John Gay
Those who in quarrels interpose, must often wipe a bloody nose.
John Gay
But money, wife, is the true Fuller's Earth for reputations, there is not a spot or a stain but what it can take out.
John Gay
Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.
John Gay
A rich rogue nowadays is fit company for any gentleman; and the world, my dear, hath not such a contempt for roguery as you imagine.
John Gay
MRS. PEACHUM How the mother is to be pitied who has handsome daughters! Locks, bolts, bars and lectures of morality are nothing to them – they break through them all.
John Gay
On the choice of friends, Our good or evil name depends.
John Gay
The comfortable estate of widowhood is the only hope that keeps up a wife's spirits.
John Gay
No retreat. No retreat. They must conquer or die who've no retreat.
John Gay
I must have women - there is nothing unbends the mind like them.
John Gay
But his kiss was so sweet, and so closely he pressed, that I languished and pined till I granted the rest.
John Gay
O Polly, you might have toyed and kissed, by keeping men off, you keep them on.
John Gay
Fools may our scorn, not envy, raise. For envy is a kind of praise.
John Gay
She who has never loved has never lived.
John Gay
We only part to meet again.
John Gay
What then in love can woman do? If we grow fond they shun us. And when we fly them, they pursue: But leave us when they've won us.
John Gay
The brave love mercy, and delight to save.
John Gay
Follow love and it will flee, flee love and it will follow thee.
John Gay
Variety's the source of joy below, From whence still fresh-revolving pleasures flow, In books and love the mind one end pursues, And only change the expiring flames renews.
John Gay
Gulliver was soon being read "from the cabinet council to the nursery".
John Gay
BEGGING QUOTES
quotations about beggars & begging
Borrowing is not much better than begging.
GOTTHOLD EPHRAIM LESSING
Nathan the Wise
None but beggars live at ease.
FRANCIS DAVISON
Song
To become a good beggar one should undoubtedly begin young; old people who turn to the profession only when the pinch of poverty actually drives them never attain quite the finished technique nor the tenacity of purpose of those trained from childhood.
HARRISON RHODES
"The Business of Begging", Harper's Weekly, December 13, 1913
It is far easier to see brave men die than to hear a coward beg for life.
JACK LONDON
The Iron Heel
A beggar is loathed and shunned; he is hated and persecuted. He is an outcast. He is detested by honest people because he busies himself at his trade; he is scorned by thieves because he is humble enough to do honest work.
ISAAC KAHN FRIEDMAN
The Autobiography of a Beggar
All in all, the beggars are like everyone else, living the life that more or less suits them, not entirely understanding it, not entirely satisfied with it.
JOHN ALFRED TAYLOR
Rogues in Arden: A Study of Elizabethan Newgate Pastoral
In this avaricious world, even a beggar needs money in his bowl to be heard.
JAWWAD ZAFAR
attributed, goodreads
A shamefaced man makes a bad beggar.
HOMER
The Odyssey
Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thanks.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Hamlet
Better a living beggar than a dead emperor.
LA FONTAINE
La Matrone d'Ephese
Well, whiles I am a beggar I will rail
And say there is no sin but to be rich;
And being rich, my virtue then shall be
To say there is no vice but beggary.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
King John
Beggars should be no choosers.
JOHN HEYWOOD
Proverbs
GEORGE ORWELL
Down and Out in Paris and London
Beggars are a sure indicator that there are no Christians, or else very few and dispirited ones, in any town in which beggars are seen.
ANDREAS KARLSTADT
On the Removal of Images
I fear no plots against me, I live in open cell;
Then who would be a king, when beggars live so well?
And a-begging we will go, will go,
And a-begging we will go!
UNKNOWN
The Jovial Beggar
Old beggars in stories are never really old beggars... They're always a witch or a prince or an angel or something. In real life old beggars are almost always old beggars.
PATRICK ROTHFUS
The Wise Man's Fear
Pity the sorrows of a poor old man,
Whose trembling limbs have borne him to your door,
Whose days are dwindled to the shortest span;
Oh give relief, and Heaven will bless your store.
THOMAS MOSS
The Beggar
It is safer to beg than to take, but it is finer to take than to beg.
OSCAR WILDE
The Soul of Man Under Socialism
Nowadays there is more begging done through the mails than with tin cups.
EVAN ESAR
20,000 Quips & Quotes
There are in all towns, in the countries where begging flourishes, what might be termed recognized or established beggars... By tacit, unofficial agreement they have the right to certain fat places, to sunny corners where one is comfortable, by church doors where the takings are sure to be large. Whether such positions descend by inheritance or are subject to sale, or are open when vacant to merit and age is excessively difficult for the foreign investigator to determine.
HARRISON RHODES
"The Business of Begging", Harper's Weekly, December 13, 1913
Once upon a time there lived a beggar,
He never begged for money, nor food,
nor shelter, he could get all that so easily.
But what was he begging for? The answer is "Love", he begged for love, a little care, a warm hug. He needed someone to tell him that he's not alone, he will never be as long as they are. He wanted nothing more but humanity. He wanted nothing more but someone who would live for him because he was ready to do the same, to love like nobody does, to die for that someone's happiness, to live all his life only to create a beautiful life for them.
The Enlightened Beggar
#Story
------The enlightened beggar-------
I was having my daily morning walk. I was crossing an old temple where some beggars were begging from the devotees. I didn't like beggars. I thought it was government's responsibility to take care of such extreme poor people. But then I saw one beggar. His eyes were shining like a pearl. I had heard that there are some people who have shine in their eyes. I was watching this for the first time. I felt an unexplainable attraction towards him. When I went closer I realised that he had tears in his eyes. And because of the reflection due to tears, his eyes were shining. I felt immense pity for him. I bought one Kg fruit and gave them to him. He ate some and distributed the rest among his fellow beggars. He was being too kind I thought. This time I bought five kg fruit and gave them to him. Again he ate some and distributed the rest. That was too much for me. This idiot was just wasting my hard earned money. I wanted him to stop begging and take those fruit to his family. But then I thought, maybe he didn't have any family. And I felt more pity for him. I went and asked, "Hey baba, you don't have a family?" The beggar replied, "Yes I have a family, a son, his wife and two grandchildren."
I understood everything. His family had disowned him I thought. "What does your son do? He doesn't keep you with him?" I asked the beggar.
"No no, he keeps calling me home all the time. I go home often. My son runs a restaurant, please come there sometimes", The beggar replied.
I lost my control and yelled at him, "You have an economically stable family who feeds you too. But still you are coming here to beg everyday? Have you no shame?"
The beggar burst into laughter but his eyes were still shining due to his tears. He said, "So you think you do not beg?"
"Hell no! I would never beg in my lifetime. I have hands, I earn and live very well. I'm not a burden on Earth like shameless people like you." I said furiously.
The beggar laughed even louder and said, "So you think you earn. Don't you?"
"Yes of course. I do hard work, I earn my money. I don't beg before people shamelessly. I have some ideals. I'm not sponger like you." I replied
"So you think you earn this air too? The air that you are breathing?" the beggar asked.
"What do you mean? The air is free. It's free for all." I said.
"Just because it's free, doesn't mean you own it. You too are a beggar my child. You have been begging since you were in the womb of your mother. The only difference between you and me is, you beg unconsciously and I beg consciously. Don't pump up your false ego considering yourself over smart. You are just a speck of this infinite creation. You cannot live without begging. You beg but you do not know that you are begging. You just haven't realised the value of begging" I beggar corrected me.
I felt shame on myself for insulting this enlightened soul. I felt tears in my eyes too.
"You are right baba. Even though, I do not understand why on earth are you begging? When you already have everything that you need, why do you still beg?" I asked.
The beggar gave me a motherly smile and said, "Come sit with me. And watch these devotees. Look at their faces. They aren't just giving you food and money, they are giving their blessings too. Look how lovingly they give. They feel so much fulfilled within themselves when they offer you a fruit. It's not about the food. It's their love that I'm begging."
Tears rolled down to my cheeks. I asked him further, "So should I also leave my work and start begging like you?"
The beggar started laughing again and said, "Look at that tree. Does it beg? Yes. It begs sunlight, air, water and many more. But is it the only thing that it does? Just begging? No! It gives whatever it has. It gives flower, fruit, shelter, it just gives whatever it can. You must also give whatever you can. Share the gift that life gives you, they will multiply. When you start accumulating these gifts selfishly, your body produces poison in your blood, which makes you sick. The way you feel about others, your body feels the same about you. If that tree restricts itself from sharing its fruit, it will poison itself that way. If a flower becomes selfish and stop spreading its fragrance, its fragrance will start working as poison for it. I hope you know that a tree leaves its waste in its fruit and the same waste works as nutrients for you. There's really not much difference between you and that tree. Except that you can ask thousands of questions but the tree cannot ask even one. Hahahaha" The beggar started laughing again.
"Yes I know. You are so true. Please go on. Educate me further." I begged the beggar.
"There's an incredible intelligence working all over the universe. It is working in your body too. And the best part is, this intelligence loves you just the way your mother loves you. It works for your betterment. Who do you think digests your food? Is it your selfish ego? No! It's this intelligence. It knows what is good and what is bad for you even when you do not know it. You are not the owner of this intelligence. You are just enabling it. You are just allowing this intelligence to work through you. When you pump up your ego considering yourself smart, you create hindrance in the natural flow of this intelligence. But even then, this intelligence is so kind and generous that it works for your betterment only. But when you bow down to this intelligence, when you feel reverence for it, when you beg and then thank this intelligence for its gift, you surrender yourself to this intelligence. You give yourself to this intelligence. You enable it to flow through you naturally. This way you become more and more receptive. This opens new levels of intelligence within you. You live in a state of ecstasy all the time. Such ecstasy that you will never get even after accumulating all the wealth of this world. This is what people are calling God. God is this pure, unbiased, ever-loving intelligence. Bow down to it and give yourself to this intelligence. This way you will lose yourself and become in-tuned with this eternal intelligence". The beggar explained.
I got to know everything about this creation just in a conversation of five minutes. All my questions suddenly turned into answers. I felt everything was becoming crystal clear in my mind. I had no questions left except this one, which I asked the beggar with folded hands. "Oh you all-knowing great soul. When you are so intelligent, why are you in misery? Why there are tears in your holy eyes?"
The beggar smiled and put his hand on my head and replied, " My son, these are not tears of misery. These are tears of gratitude. Tears of misery form and fall. Tears of gratitude stay in your eyes forever."
~ जब मैं था तब हरि नहीं, अब हरि हैं मैं नाहिं।
~ प्रेम गली अति सांकरी, तामें दो न समाहिं।।
Looped reality
a mysterious child
it's cold out here
who could have abandoned it?
Hello! whose child is it?
no answers from shadowless streets
what should I do?
a remote area, danger animals out there
the child sleeping peacefully
as the world hasn't been doomed yet,
a beggar on the street
looking here and there
maybe searching for something
hey! mister, did you see my child?
I couldn't remember, where did I put it?
"surprised"
what? is it your child?
I don't believe it, You are the father?
what misery lies ahead for this little soul?
wait? I was also an orphan?
somebody dumped me too
is this the way history repeats itself?
what should I do now?
should I return the child to his father?
or, should I become his Godfather?
I haven't seen any child around here
You should search nearby
maybe You will find it?
"Beggar intoxicated with chemicals"
Oh! I will search for it in the morning
it's too late now
I should sleep
and he walked away,
man came inside
couldn't resist looking at child
blood in his body became cold
the breath has stopped
as it was he! himself
what? how is it possible?
how, I am holding myself?
no this is nonsense!
I should leave this child outside only
this is something horrible
I will lose my mind?
and then he dumped him outside
this is how he remained orphan
a loop that will play again,
Jks.
Low on words
In this world of expressions,
I am a blank page
Waiting for someone to read the emptiness
Where love goes to the one who can sell his pain
I am still just a beggar
Waiting for someone to wonder at my unspoken nothing
What can be the solution.????
Tried a different format today.
Please read the full poem.
The beggar on the road
No. The beggar wasn't poor.
He was rich.had arms and legs fixed.
He walks smart .
When u see him, u can't distinguish him .
He looks educated ,yet,he begs.
We were walking on the pathway
Followed by the man.
His eyes were filled with lust and greed set on my sis' walking next to me.
maybe, he was hungry from a time long.
Although the man was hungry, he was sharp.
He stopped when we did and followed when we walked.
Yes, the man was sharp.
Yet ,was a beggar.
His way of following was a bit unusual.
He was either lost or broken .
Something bad must have had hit him hard.
And so, he was walking on the road
Long and dark.
No, he was not poor .
Not poor anymore .
The man had his own charm sparkling when he saw a girl move fore.
He could be a rapist someday! .
I think ,someday a murderer,maybe.
Because the one who left him wandering.
Was himself the murderer of the beggar man's dreams.
So, the man was eager to find the culprit.
Maybe, one from the society or the society as a whole can be it.
So,the man could be a rapist. someday.
Now what can we do?
Can we put him into the jail?
Or treat him?
But ,treatment itself won't do much
Because the earth will give birth to a beggar new.
New to the system .
Again, lost and broken.
He can have a high burning desire to kiss a girl he again, finds on the road,walking.
A bane to the society or your daughter's rapist? You decide.
So, What can we do?
Why not we should execute him??
Filth
Her hands are dry, face a filth,
Hair's a mess and toes are spilt
Alone she walks on the busy streets,
Begging a penny for day's feed.
The sun is lustrous, the days are hot,
She roams around carrying a 6 year old.
She sleeps in the gutter, bathe the flith.
Oh! The mighty road take her away,
Because humanity is such a filth...