When we risk no contradiction

Quote byJohn Gay · 1685–1732

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Fables (1727), Fable X, "The Elephant and the Bookseller".

English (original)

When we risk no contradiction, It prompts the tongue to deal in fiction.

— John Gay

All in the Downs the fleet was moor'd.

My lodging is on the cold ground, And hard, very hard, is my fare, But that which grieves me more Is the coldness of my dear.

Life is a jest; and all things show it. I thought so once; and now I know it.

'Twas when the seas were roaring With hollow blasts of wind, A damsel lay deploring, All on a rock reclined.

So comes a reckoning when the banquet's o'er,— The dreadful reckoning, and men smile no more.

Adieu, she cried, and waved her lily hand.