17th century

Explore 573 quotes from the 17th century

The flow'ry way that leads to the broad gate and the great fire.

William Shakespeare

All's Well that Ends Well

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Topic

Temptation

Speaker

Clown

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

All's Well that Ends Well

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "All's Well that Ends Well." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 4, sc. 5.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "All's Well That Ends Well." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 4, sc. 5.

I find my wife hath something in her gizzard, that only waits an opportunity of being provoked to bring up; but I will not, for my content-sake, give it.

Samuel Pepys

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Topic

Conflict in marriage

Author

Samuel Pepys

Medium

Personal journal

Language

English

Time

1668 1660s 17th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Pepys, Samuel. Diary entry. 17 June 1668.

Ignorance of the law excuses no man; not that all men know the law, but because 'tis an excuse every man will plead, and no man can tell how to confute him.

John Selden

Table Talk (Selden)

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Topic

Legal theory Law

Author

John Selden

Source

Table Talk (Selden)

Language

English

Time

1689 1680s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Selden, John. "Law." The Table-Talk Of John Selden. London: J.M. Dent and Company, 1689.

Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

John Milton

Paradise Lost

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Topic

Heaven and hell

Author

John Milton

Source

Paradise Lost

Medium

Poem

Genre

Epic poem Religious literature

Language

English

Time

1667 1660s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Samuel Simmons, 1667, bk. 1, I. 263.

Current Citation

"Paradise Lost." John Milton: Major Works, edited by Stephen Orgel and Jonathan Goldberg. Oxford University Press, 2008, I. 263.

Words pay no debts.

William Shakespeare

Troilus and Cressida

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Topic

Talk is cheap Words vs. actions

Speaker

Pandarus

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Troilus and Cressida

Medium

Play

Genre

Problem play

Language

English

Time

1603 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Troilus and Cressida. The Lord Chamberlain's Men, c. 1603, The Globe Theatre, London, England, UK, act 3, sc. 2.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Troilus and Cressida." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 3, sc. 2.

Doubt thou the stars are fire,
Doubt that the sun doth move,
Doubt truth to be a liar,
But never doubt I love.

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

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Topic

Love

Speaker

Lord Polonius

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Hamlet

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Statement Type

Profession of love

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 2, sc. 2.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 2, sc. 3.

The alteration of motion is ever proportional to the motive force impressed; and is made in the direction of the right line in which that force is impressed.

Isaac Newton

Principia

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Topic

Newton's laws of motion Laws of physics

Author

Isaac Newton

Source

Principia

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

Latin

Time

1687 1680s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Newton, Isaac. "Axiomata sive Leges Motus: [Axioms, or Laws of Motion]." Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica [The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy], vol. 1. London: Josephi Streater, 1687, law 2.

Current Citation

Newton, Isaac. "Axioms, or the Laws of Motion." The Principia, translated by Andrew Motte. Prometheus, 1995, law 2.

Weigh’st thy words before thou giv’st them breath.

William Shakespeare

Othello

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Topic

Think before speaking Careless speech Talking

Speaker

Othello

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Othello

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1604 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Othello. King's Men, 1 Nov. 1604, Palace of Whitehall, Westminster, London, England, UK, act 3, sc. 3.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Othello." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 3, sc. 3.

And so from hour to hour we ripe and ripe,
And then from hour to hour we rot and rot,
And thereby hangs a tale.

William Shakespeare

As You Like It

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Topic

Aging Mortality The human condition

Speaker

Jaques

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

As You Like It

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "As You Like It." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 2, sc. 7.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "As You Like It." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 2, sc. 7.

The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

William Shakespeare

The Tempest

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Topic

Mortality The human condition

Speaker

Prospero

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

The Tempest

Medium

Play

Genre

Comedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The Tempest." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 4, sc. 1.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The Tempest." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 4, sc. 1.

O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,
Or that the Everlasting had not fixed
His canon ’gainst self-slaughter! O God, God,
How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

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Topic

Over it Hopelessness and despair Suicide

Speaker

Hamlet

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Hamlet

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 1, sc. 2.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 1, sc. 2.

Reputation is an idle and most false imposition, oft got without merit and lost without deserving.

William Shakespeare

Othello

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Topic

Reputation Randomness

Speaker

Iago

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Othello

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1604 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Othello. King's Men, 1 Nov. 1604, Palace of Whitehall, Westminster, London, England, UK, act 2, sc. 3.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Othello." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 2, sc. 3.

We know the truth, not only by the reason, but by the heart.

Blaise Pascal

Pensées

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Topic

Knowing the truth Truth Limits of reason Intuition

Author

Blaise Pascal

Source

Pensées

Medium

Epigram

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1670 1670s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Pascal, Blaise. Pensées [Thoughts]. Paris: Chez G. Desprez, 1670, no. 1.

Current Citation

Pascal, Blaise. "Pensées." Pensées and Other Writings, edited by Anthony Levi, translated by Honor Levi. Oxford University Press, 2008, no. 1.

Such truth as opposeth no man's profit nor pleasure is to all men welcome.

Thomas Hobbes

Leviathan

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Topic

Truth

Author

Thomas Hobbes

Source

Leviathan

Genre

Political literature Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1651 1650s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil. London: Andrew Crooke, 1651, pt. 4, a review and conclusion.

Current Citation

Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan, edited by Christopher Brooke. Penguin Classics, 2017, pt. 4, a review and conclusion.

Fortune, that arrant whore,
Ne’er turns the key to th’ poor.

William Shakespeare

King Lear

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Topic

Fortune Good luck The poor

Speaker

Fool

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

King Lear

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Statement Type

Proverbs, aphorisms and adages

Language

English

Time

1606 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. King Lear. King's Men, 26 Dec. 1606, Palace of Whitehall, Westminster, England, UK, act 2, sc. 4.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The Tragedy of King Lear." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 2, sc. 4.

Things are always at their best in their beginning.

Blaise Pascal

More information about this quote

Topic

Things get worse

Author

Blaise Pascal

Statement Type

Precepts and axioms

Language

French

Time

1656 1650s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Pascal, Blaise [published as Louis de Montalte]. "February 25, 1656." Les Provinciales ou Les Lettres Escrites [The Provincial Letters]. c. 1657, letter 4.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

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Topic

Limits of knowledge Knowledge

Speaker

Hamlet

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Hamlet

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 1, sc. 5.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 1, sc. 5.

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste.

William Shakespeare

Shakespeare's Sonnets

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Topic

Wasting time Disappointment Memories

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Sonnet 30 Shakespeare's Sonnets

Medium

Sonnet Poem

Language

English

Time

1609 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. Shake-speares Sonnets. London: Thomas Thorpe, 1609, sonnet 30, I. 1.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "The Sonnets." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, sonnet 30.

I must be cruel only to be kind.

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

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Topic

End justifies the means Justifications and rationales Cruelty Kindness

Speaker

Hamlet

Author

William Shakespeare

Source

Hamlet

Medium

Play

Genre

Tragedy (play)

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

English

Time

1616 1610s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. London: Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard, 1623, act 3, sc. 4.

Current Citation

Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." The Norton Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et al., 3rd ed., W. W. Norton & Company, 2015, act 3, sc. 4.

Truth…never comes into the world, but like a bastard, to the ignominy of him that brought her forth.

John Milton

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Topic

Resistance to change Nature of progress

Author

John Milton

Source

The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce

Language

English

Time

1643 1640s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Milton, John, [published anonymously]. The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce: Restor'd to the Good of Both Sexes, From the Bondage of Canon Law. London: T. P. and M. S., 1643.

Current Citation

Milton, John. "The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce." John Milton: The Major Works, edited by Stephen Orgel and Jonathan Goldberg. Oxford University Press, 2008.