Richard Brinsley Sheridan Quotes

A collection of quotes by Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816) was an Irish playwright, politician, and orator. Known for his wit and satirical plays, he achieved great success with works such as "The Rivals", "The School for Scandal", and "Pizarro". Born in Dublin, Ireland, he moved to London to pursue a career in theatre. Sheridan also served as a Member of Parliament and was known for his powerful speeches and sharp intellect. His contributions to literature and politics have left a lasting impact, earning him a prominent place in British literary history.

I open with a clock striking, to beget an awful attention in

I open with a clock striking, to beget an awful attention in the audience - it also marks the time, which is four o clock in the morning, and saves a description of the rising sun, and a great deal about gilding the eastern hemisphere.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

An oyster may be crossed in love.

An oyster may be crossed in love.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Easy writings curse is hard reading.

Easy writings curse is hard reading.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Authors & Writing

I open with a clock striking, to beget an awful attention in

I open with a clock striking, to beget an awful attention in the audience -- it also marks the time, which is four o clock in the morning, and saves a description of the rising sun, and a great deal about gilding the eastern hemisphere.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Take care; you know I am compliance itself, when I am not th

Take care; you know I am compliance itself, when I am not thwarted! No one more easily led, when I have my own way; but don't put me in a frenzy.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

For if there is anything to one's praise, it is foolish vani

For if there is anything to one's praise, it is foolish vanity to be gratified at it, and if it is abuse -- why one is always sure to hear of it from one damned good-natured friend or another!

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

My valor is certainly going, it is sneaking off! I feel it o

My valor is certainly going, it is sneaking off! I feel it oozing out as it were, at the palms of my hands!

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Cowardice/weakness

The Right Honourable Gentleman is indebted to his memory for

The Right Honourable Gentleman is indebted to his memory for his jests, and to his imagination for his facts.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

There is nothing on earth so easy as to forget, if a person

There is nothing on earth so easy as to forget, if a person chooses to set about it. I'm sure I have as much forgot your poor, dear uncle, as if he had never existed; and I thought it my duty to do so.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Ay, ay, the best terms will grow obsolete: damns have had th

Ay, ay, the best terms will grow obsolete: damns have had their day.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Profanity Vulgarity

'Tis safest in matrimony to begin with a little aversion.

'Tis safest in matrimony to begin with a little aversion.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Madam, a circulating library in a town is as an evergreen tr

Madam, a circulating library in a town is as an evergreen tree of diabolical knowledge; it blossoms through the year. And depend on it that they who are so fond of handling the leaves, will long for the fruit at last.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

He is the very pineapple of politeness!

He is the very pineapple of politeness!

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Pity those who nature abuses; never those who abuse nature.

Pity those who nature abuses; never those who abuse nature.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

There's no possibility of being witty without a little ill-n

There's no possibility of being witty without a little ill-nature -- the malice of a good thing is the barb that makes it stick.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Here, my dear Lucy, hide these books. Quick, quick! Fling Pe

Here, my dear Lucy, hide these books. Quick, quick! Fling Peregrine Pickle under the toilette --throw Roderick Random into the closet --put The Innocent Adultery into The Whole Duty of Man; thrust Lord Aimworth under the sofa! cram Ovid behind the bolster; there --put The Man of Feeling into your pocket. Now for them.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Those that vow the most are the least sincere.

Those that vow the most are the least sincere.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Modesty is a quality in a lover more praised by the women th

Modesty is a quality in a lover more praised by the women than liked.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

I would by no means wish a daughter of mine to be a progeny

I would by no means wish a daughter of mine to be a progeny of learning; I don't think so much learning becomes a young woman: for instance, I would never let her meddle with Greek, or Hebrew, or algebra, or simony, or fluxions, or paradoxes, or such inflammatory branches of learning; nor will it be necessary for her to handle any of your mathematical, astronomical, diabolical instruments; but... I would send her, at nine years old, to a boarding-school, in order to learn a little ingenuity and artifice: then, sir, she would have a supercilious knowledge in accounts, and, as she grew up, I would have her instructed in geometry, that she might know something of the contagious countries: this is what I would have a woman know; and I don't think there is a superstitious article in it.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefi

That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan