Quote#Truth
Then talk not of Inconstancy
Quote byJohn Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester · 1647–1680
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Poems on Several Occasions (c. 1680), Love and Life, ll. 11-15.
English (original)
Then talk not of Inconstancy, False Hearts, and broken Vows; If I, by Miracle, can be This live-long Minute true to thee, 'Tis all that Heav'n allows.
— John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester
More from John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester
Were I, who to my Cost already am One of those strange, prodigious Creatures Man, A Spirit free, to choose for my own Share, What sort of Flesh and Blood I pleas'd to wear, I'd be a Dog, a Monkey, or a Bear, Or any thing, but that vain …
He saw her lovely bosom bare, Her strawberry nipples made him stare.
Love, the most generous passion of the mind The softest refuge innocence can find.
When my young master's worship comes to town, From pedagogue and mother just fit free, The heir and hopes of a great famiiy; Who with strong beer and beef the country rules, And ever since the Conquest have been fools; And now, with …
The Elephant is never won with Anger, Nor must that man, who would reclaim a Lion, Take him by the teeth.
Reason, an Ignis fatuus of the Mind, Which leaves the light of Nature, Sense, behind.