Henry Fielding

The same animal which hath the honour to have some part of his flesh eaten at the table of a duke, may perhaps be degraded in another part, and some of his limbs gibbeted, as it were, in the vilest stall in town.

Men who pay for what they eat will insist on gratifying their palates

Some folks rail against other folks, because other folks have what some folks would be glad of.

I have found it; I have discovered the cause of all the misfortunes which befell him. A public school, Joseph, was the cause of all the calamaties which he afterwards suffered. Public schools are the nurseries of all vice and immorality.

They are the affectation of affectation.

I describe not men, but manners; not an individual, but a species.

I am content; that is a blessing greater than riches; and he to whom that is given need ask no more.

To whom nothing is given, of him can nothing be required.

It is a trite but true observation, that examples work more forcibly on the mind than precepts.

The only source of the true Ridiculous (as it appears to me) is affectation

A comic writer should of all others be the least excused for deviating from nature, since it may not be always so easy for a serious poet to meet with the great and the admirable; but life every where furnishes an accurate observer with …

Penny saved is a penny got.

Sir, money, money, the most charming of all things; money, which will say more in one moment than the most elegant lover can in years. Perhaps you will say a man is not young; I answer he is rich. He is not genteel, handsome, witty, brave, …

We must eat to live and live to eat.

Lo, when two dogs are fighting in the streets, With a third dog one of the two dogs meets; With angry teeth he bites him to the bone, And this dog smarts for what that dog has done.

To sun myself in Huncamunca's eyes.

Thy modesty's a candle to thy merit.

When I'm not thanked at all, I'm thanked enough; I've done my duty, and I've done no more.

Petition me no petitions, sir, to-day; Let other hours be set apart for business. Today it is our pleasure to be drunk; And this our queen shall be as drunk as we.

All Nature wears one universal grin.

Love and scandal are the best sweeteneers of tea.

Dancing begets warmth, which is the parent of wantonness. It is, Sir, the great grandfather of cuckoldom.

A lover, when he is admitted to cards, ought to be solemnly silent, and observe the motions of his mistress. He must laugh when she laughs, sigh when she sighs. In short, he should be the shadow of her mind. A lady, in the presence of her …

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