Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmithwas an Irish novelist, playwright and poet, who is best known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield, his pastoral poem The Deserted Village, and his plays The Good-Natur'd Manand She Stoops to Conquer. He is thought to have written the classic children's tale The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth10 November 1730
CountryIreland
commerce contentment freedom honor prevails wealth
Where wealth and freedom reign; contentment fails, And honor sinks where commerce long prevails
successful riches wealth
The jests of the rich are ever successful.
ignorance riches wealth
And his best riches, ignorance of wealth.
land rose wealth
But times are alter'd; trade's unfeeling train Usurp the land, and dispossess the swain; Along the lawn, where scatter'd hamlets rose, Unwieldy wealth and cumbrous pomp repose.
men decay wealth
Wealth accumulates, and men decay.
best gave ignorance innocence labor life light spread wealth wholesome
For him light labor spread her wholesome store, Just gave what life required, but gave no more: His best companions, innocence and health; And his best riches, ignorance of wealth
men decay wealth
Where wealth accumulates, men decay.
boys fear noise thundering
We are the boys / That fear no noise / Where the thundering cannons roar.
agree sugar
Our Garrick's a salad; for in him we see, Oil, vinegar, sugar and saltiness agree
looks news older statesmen talked village
Where village statesmen talked with looks profound, / And news much older than their ale went round.
direct management pretend
Who can direct when all pretend to know?
belongs defined human ill prove rational
Logicians have but ill defined As rational the human mind. Logic, they say, belongs to man, But let them prove it if they can.
musical taste
With other fashionable topics, such as pictures, taste, Shakespeare, and the musical glasses.
nice proud
Too nice for a statesman, too proud for a wit.