Quote#Wisdom
I hate the man who builds his name
Quote byJohn Gay · 1685–1732
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Fables (1727), Fable XLV, "The Poet and the Rose".
English (original)
I hate the man who builds his name On ruins of another's fame. Thus prudes, by characters o'erthrown, Imagine that they raise their own. Thus Scribblers, covetous of praise, Think slander can transplant the bays.
— John Gay
More from John Gay
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.
All in the Downs the fleet was moor'd.
'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.
Life is a jest; and all things show it. I thought so once; and now I know it.
Adieu, she cried, and waved her lily hand.