William Shenstone
William Shenstone
William Shenstonewas an English poet and one of the earliest practitioners of landscape gardening through the development of his estate, The Leasowes...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth18 November 1714
art fair found humble low thou
To thee, fair Freedom! I retireFrom flattery, cards, and dice, and din:Nor art thou found in mansions higherThan the low cot, or humble inn.
wine understanding church
Reserve is no more essentially connected with understanding than a church organ with devotion, or wine with good-nature.
jealousy envy envious
Jealousy is the fear or apprehension of superiority: envy our uneasiness under it.
liars lying ends
A liar begins with making falsehood appear like truth, and ends with making truth itself appear like falsehood.
good-man use coins
Learning, like money, may be of so base a coin as to be utterly void of use; or, if sterling, may require good management to make it serve the purposes of sense or happiness.
wine power white
The weak and insipid white wine makes at length excellent vinegar.
health perfect perfect-beauty
Health is beauty, and the most perfect health is the most perfect beauty.
essence virtue fragrance
Virtues, like essences, lose their fragrance when exposed.
honesty pain knaves
It should seem that indolence itself would incline a person to be honest, as it requires infinitely greater pains and contrivance to be a knave.
nature
Love can be founded upon Nature only.
law break-through texture
Laws are generally found to be nets of such a texture, as the little creep through, the great break through, and the middle-sized are alone entangled in it.
prudent modesty be-careful
Let us be careful to distinguish modesty, which is ever amiable, from reserve, which is only prudent.
names i-am-thankful obnoxious
I am thankful that my name in obnoxious to no pun.
heart contentment may
May I always have a heart superior, with economy suitable, to my fortune.