Quote#World
Lest men suspect your tale untrue
Quote byJohn Gay · 1685–1732
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Fables (1727), Fable, The Painter who pleased Nobody and Everybody.
English (original)
Lest men suspect your tale untrue, Keep probability in view.
— John Gay
More from John Gay
All in the Downs the fleet was moor'd.
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.
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.
Adieu, she cried, and waved her lily hand.