: Were women never to fair, men would be false

Quote byJohn Lyly · 1554–1606

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Campaspe, Act III, sc. iii.

English (original)

: Were women never to fair, men would be false. : Were women never so false, men would be fond.

— John Lyly

Be valyaunt, but not too venturous. Let thy attyre bee comely, but not costly.

What bird so sings, yet so does wail? Oh, 'tis the ravished nightingale. "Jug, jug, jug, jug, tereu," she cries, And still her woes at midnight rise.

None is happy but a glutton.

O! for a bowl of fat Canary, Rich Palermo, sparkling Sherry.

For wenches, wine, and lusty cheer, Jove would leap down to surfeit here.

Though the Camomill, the more it is trodden and pressed downe the more it spreadeth.