Quote#Solitude
Follow a shadow, it still flies you
Quote byBen Jonson · 1572–1637
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Forest, That Women Are But Men's Shadows, lines 1-4.
English (original)
Follow a shadow, it still flies you; Seem to fly it, it will pursue: So court a mistress, she denies you; Let her alone, she will court you.
— Ben Jonson
More from Ben Jonson
That old bald cheater, Time.
True happiness Consists not in the multitude of friends, But in the worth and choice.
Queen and huntress, chaste and fair, Now the sun is laid to sleep, Seated in thy silver chair, State in wonted manner keep: Hesperus entreats thy light, Goddess, excellently bright.
There shall be no love lost.
Slow, slow, fresh fount, keep time with my salt tears: Yet, slower, yet; O faintly, gentle springs: List to the heavy part the music bears, Woe weeps out her division, when she sings. Droop herbs, and flowers, Fall grief in showers,
Of all wild beasts preserve me from a tyrant; and of all tame, a flatterer.