William Shenstone

William Shenstone (13 November 1714 – 11 February 1763) was an English poet, essayist and one of the earliest practitoners of landscape gardening through the development of his estate, The Leasowes.

Quotes



 * Oft has good-nature been the fool's defence, And honest meaning gilded want of sense.
 * "Verses to a Lady" (1736), in Poems upon Various Occasions (Oxford: Leon Lichfield, 1737), p. 65.

The Schoolmistress (1737-48)

 * Full text online


 * Her cap, far whiter than the driven snow, Emblem right meet of decency does yield.
 * Stanza 6


 * Pun-provoking thyme.
 * Stanza 11


 * A little bench of heedless bishops here, And there a chancellor in embryo.
 * Stanza 28

Works, Vol. I: Verse (1764)

 * The Works in Verse and Prose of William Shenstone, Vol. I (London: R. and J. Dodsley, 1764)


 * Love is a pleasing, but a various clime!
 * "Elegy V", st. 3; p. 23.


 * I trimm'd my lamp, consumed the midnight oil.
 * "Elegy XI", st. 7; p. 41.


 * Perish the lover, whose imperfect flame Forgets one feature of the nymph he lov'd.
 * "Elegy XXII", st. 6; p. 82.


 * For seldom shall she hear a tale So sad, so tender, yet so true.
 * Jemmy Dawson: A Ballad (1745), st. 20; p. 188.


 * So sweetly she bade me adieu, I thought that she bade me return.
 * "A Pastoral Ballad" (1743), Part I: Absence; p. 190.


 * My banks they are furnish’d with bees, Whose murmur invites one to sleep.
 * "A Pastoral Ballad" (1743), Part II: Hope; p. 191.


 * I have found out a gift for my fair; I have found where the wood-pigeons breed.
 * "A Pastoral Ballad" (1743), Part II: Hope; p. 192.


 * Whoe'er has travell'd life's dull round, Where'er his stages may have been, May sigh to think he still has found The warmest welcome, at an inn.
 * "Written at an Inn at Henley" (1758), st. 6; p. 228.
 * Compare: " From thee, great God, we spring, to thee we tend,— Path, motive, guide, original, and end", Samuel Johnson, Motto to the Rambler, No. 7.


 * She pleas'd while distant, but, when near, she charm'd.
 * "The Judgment of Hercules", p. 246.


 * Let the gull'd fool the toil of war pursue, Where bleed the many to enrich the few.
 * "The Judgment of Hercules", p. 249.


 * Theirs is the present who can praise the past.
 * "The Judgment of Hercules", p. 258.


 * Sloth views the tow'rs of fame with envious eyes; Desirous still, still impotent to rise.
 * "The Judgment of Hercules", p. 259.

Essays on Men and Manners (1764)

 * Shenstone's Essays on Men and Manners in One Volume (1804), online




 * Let us be careful to distinguish modesty, which is ever amiable, from reserve, which is only prudent.
 * "On Reserve, a Fragment", p. 42.


 * A large, branching, aged oak, is perhaps the most venerable of all inanimate objects.
 * "Unconnected Thoughts on Gardening", p. 90.


 * A man of remarkable genius may afford to pass by a piece of wit, if it happens to border on abuse. A little genius is obliged to catch at every witticism indiscriminately.
 * "On Politics", p. 98.


 * Laws are generally found to be nets of such a texture, as the little creep through, the great break through, and the middle size are alone entangled in.
 * "On Politics", p. 99.


 * It is a miserable thing to love where one hates; and yet it is not inconsistent.
 * "Egotisms, from my own sensations" XI, p. 102.


 * Love can be founded upon nature only; or the appearance of it.
 * "On Dress" VII, p. 109.


 * Every good poet includes a critic; the reverse will not hold.
 * "On Writing and Books" LXXIX, p. 128


 * Necessity may be the mother of lucrative invention, but it is the death of poetical invention.
 * "On Writing and Books" LXXXIV, p. 129


 * Zealous men are ever displaying to you the strength of their belief, while judicious men are shewing you the grounds of it.
 * "Of Men and Manners" XIV, p. 138.


 * While we labour to subdue our passions, we should take care not to extinguish them. Subduing our passions, is disengaging ourselves from the world; to which however, Whilst we reside in it, we must always bear relation; and we may detach ourselves to such a degree as to pass an useless and insipid life, which we were not meant to do. Our existence here is at least one part of a system. A man has generally the good or ill qualities which he attributes to mankind.
 * "Of Men and Manners" XLIV, p. 143.


 * A fool and his words are soon parted; a man of genius and his money.
 * "Of Men and Manners" LIX, p. 147.


 * Some men are called sagacious, merely on account of their avarice: whereas a child can clench its fist the moment it is born.
 * "Of Men and Manners" LXXXVI, p. 155.


 * There seem near as many people that want passion as want reason.
 * "Of Men and Manners" LXXXVI, p. 162.


 * Independency may be found in comparative, as well as absolute abundance: I mean when a person contracts his desires within the limits of his fortune.
 * "Of Men and Manners" LXXXVI, p. 164.


 * Second thoughts are oftentimes the very worst of all thoughts.
 * "Of Men and Manners" LXXXVI, p. 166.


 * The fund of sensible discourse is limited; that of jest and badinerie is infinite.
 * "On Men and Manners", p. 176.


 * Prudent men should lock up their motives, giving only their intimates a key.
 * "On Men and Manners", p. 178.


 * Health is beauty, and the most perfect health is the most perfect beauty.
 * "On Taste", p. 197.