The Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations

Every quotation a nineteenth-century speaker or writer might want, grouped under its subject, with the author, the date and the source given as exactly as Hoyt could manage.

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Pleasure: Quotations from Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations

Pleasures lie thickest where no pleasures seem; There's not a leaf that falls upon the ground But holds some joy of silence or of sound, Some sprite begotten of a summer dream.— BLANCHARD — Sonnet VII. Hidden
Joys. Every age has its pleasures, its style of wit, and its own ways.— NICHOLAS BOILEAU-DESPREAUX — The Art of Poetry. Canto III. L. 374.
But pleasures are like poppies spread; You seize the flower, its bloom is shed.— BURNS — Tam o' Shanter. L. 59.
The rule of my life is to make business a pleasure, and pleasure my business.
Take all the pleasures of all the spheres, And multiply each through endless years, One minute of Heaven is worth them all.— MOORE — Lalla Rookh. Paradise and
the Peri. The roses of pleasure seldom last long enough to adorn the brow of him who plucks them; for they are the only roses which do not retain their sweetness after they have lost their beauty.— HANNAH MORE — Essays on Various
Subjects. On Dissipation. God made all pleasures innocent.— MRS. NORTON — Lady of La Garaye. Pt. I.
Pleas'd to the last he crops the flowery food, And licks the hand just rais'd to shed his blood.— POPE — Essay on Man. Ep. I. L. 83.
Pleasures are ever in our hands or eyes; And when in act they cease, in prospect rise. S.— POPE — Essay on Man. Ep. II. L. 123.
Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense, Lie in three words, -health, peace, and competence.— POPE — Essay on Man. Ep. IV. L. 79.
In the days when we went gypsying A long time ago.— EDWIN RANSFORD — In the Days when
We Went Gypsying. Spangling the wave with lights as vain As pleasures in this vale of pain, That dazzle as they fade.— SCOTT — Lord of the Isles. Canto I. St. 23.
Boys who, being mature in knowledge, Pawn their experience to their present pleasure.— Shakespeare — Antony and Cleopatra. Act I. Sc. 4. L. 31.
And painefull pleasure turnes to pleasing paine.— SPENSER — Faerie Queene. Bk. III. Canto X. St. 60.
I built my soul a lordly pleasure-house, Wherein at ease for aye to dwell.— TENNYSON — The Palace of Art. St. 1.
They who are pleased themselves must always please.— THOMSON — The Castle of Indolence. Canto I. St. 15.
All human race from China to Peru, Pleasure, howe'er disguis'd by art, pursue.— THOMAS WARTON — The Universal Love
of Pleasure. Sure as night follows day, Death treads in Pleasure's footsteps round the world, When Pleasure treads the paths which Reason shuns.— YOUNG — Night Thoughts. Night V. L. 863.
To frown at pleasure, and to smile in pain.— YOUNG — Night Thoughts. Night VIII. L. 1,045.
Ludendi etiam est quidam modus retinendus, ut ne nimis omnia profundamus, elatique voluptate in aliquam turpitudinem delabamur. In our amusements a certain limit is to be placed that we may not devote ourselves to a life of pleasure and thence fall into immorality.— CICERO — De Officiis. I. 29.
Voluptas mentis (ut ita dicam) præstringit oculos, nec habet ullum cum virtute commercium. Pleasure blinds (so to speak) the eyes of the mind, and has no fellowship with virtue.— CICERO — De Senectute. XII.
Ficta voluptatis causâ sint proxima veris. Let the fictitious sources of pleasure be as near as possible to the true. C.— HORACE — Ars Poetica. 338.
Sperne voluptates; nocet empta dolore voluptas. Despise pleasures; pleasure bought by pain is injurious.— HORACE — Epistolæ. I. 2. 55.
Vivo et regno, simul ista reliqui Quæ vos ad cœlum effertis rumore secundo. I live and reign since I have abandoned those pleasures which you by your praises extol to the skies.— HORACE — Epistolæ. I. 10. 8.
Quantas ipse deus lætos generavit in usûs Res homini plenâque dedit bona gaudia dextrâ. How many things God has formed for joyous purposes, and has distributed pleasures with a full right hand.— SILIUS ITALIUS — Punica. XV. 55.
Voluptates commendat rarior usus. Rare indulgence produces greater pleasure.— JUVENAL — Satiræ. XI. 208.
Quod licet est ingratum quod non licet acrius urit. What is lawful is undesirable; what is unlawful is very attractive.— OVID — Amorum. II. 19. 3.
Usque adeo nulli sincera voluptas, Solicitique aliquid lætis intervenit. No one possesses unalloyed pleasure; there is some anxiety mingled with the joy.— OVID — Metamorphoses. VII. 453.
Dum licet inter nos igitur lætemur amantes; Non satis est ullo tempore longus amor. Let us enjoy pleasure while we can; pleasure is never long enough.— PROPERTIUS — Elegiæ. I. 19. 25.
Je l'ai toujours dit et senti, la véritable jouissance ne se décrit point. I have always said and felt that true enjoyment can not be described.— ROUSSEAU — Confessions, VIII.
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