# Matthew Prior

Matthew Prior (July 21, 1664 – September 18, 1721) was an English poet and diplomat.

## Quotes

* Our hopes, like towering falcons, aim At objects in an airy height; The little pleasure of the game Is from afar to view the flight.
** To the Honorable Charles Montague (1692).
* From ignorance our comfort flows. The only wretched are the wise.
** To the Honorable Charles Montague (1692).
* That if weak women went astray, Their stars were more in fault than they.
** Hans Carvel (1700).
* The end must justify the means.
** Hans Carvel (1700).
* Forbear to mention what thou canst not praise.
** Carmen Seculare (1700).
* Soft peace she brings; wherever she arrives She builds our quiet as she forms our lives; Lays the rough paths of peevish Nature even, And opens in each heart a little heaven.
** Charity (1703).
* Be to her virtues very kind; Be to her faults a little blind; Let all her ways be unconfined; And clap your padlock — on her mind!
** An English Padlock (1707).
* And thought the nation ne'er would thrive Till all the whores were burnt alive.
** Paulo Purganti and His Wife (1708).
* He ranged his tropes, and preached up patience; Backed his opinion with quotations.
** Paulo Purganti and His Wife (1708).
* Cured yesterday of my disease, I died last night of my physician.
** The Remedy Worse than the Disease (1714).
* Now fitted the halter, now traversed the cart, And often took leave, but was loth to depart.
** The Thief and the Cordelier (1718).
* His noble negligences teach What others' toils despair to reach.
** Alma, Canto II, l. 7 (1718).
* Till their own dreams at length decive 'em, And oft repeating, they believe 'em.
** Alma, Canto III, l. 13 (1718).
* To John I owed great obligation; But John, unhappily, thought fit To publish it to all the nation: Sure John and I are more than quit.
** Epigram (1718).
* Venus, take my votive glass; Since I am not what I was, What from this day I shall be, Venus, let me never see.
** The Lady Who Offers Her Looking-Glass to Venus (1718).
* Nobles and heralds, by your leave, Here lies what once was Matthew Prior; The son of Adam and of Eve: Can Bourbon or Nassau claim higher?
** Epitaph (1721).
* All jargon of the schools.
** I am that I am, An Ode; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
* Odds life! must one swear to the truth of a song?
** A Better Answer; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
* They never taste who always drink; They always talk who never think.
** Upon a passage in the Scaligerana; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
* That air and harmony of shape express, Fine by degrees, and beautifully less.
** Henry and Emma; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
* Abra was ready ere I called her name; And though I called another, Abra came.
** Solomon on the Vanity of the World, book ii, line 364; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
* For hope is but the dream of those that wake.
** Solomon on the Vanity of the World, book iii, line 102; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
* Who breathes must suffer, and who thinks must mourn; And he alone is bless'd who ne'er was born.
** Solomon on the Vanity of the World, book iii, line 240; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
* A Rechabite poor Will must live, And drink of Adam's ale.
** The Wandering Pilgrim.; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).

## External links

* Encyclopedic article on Matthew Prior on Wikipedia
* Media related to Matthew Prior on Wikimedia Commons
* Works related to Author:Matthew Prior on Wikisource
* The Matthew Prior Project, Prior's complete correspondence