Aphra Behn

Variety is the soul of pleasure.

Aphra Behn (née Aphra Johnson) (July 10 1640 – April 16 1689) was a prolific Restoration dramatist and writer of amatory fiction. She is believed to be the first English professional woman writer.

Quotes

• No friend to Love like a long voyage at sea.
  • The Rover, Part I, Act I, sc. ii (1677).

• There's no sinner like a young saint.
  • The Rover, Part I, Act I, sc. ii.

• Patience is a flatterer, sir, and an ass, sir.
  • The Feigned Courtesans, Act III, sc. i (1679).

• Variety is the soul of pleasure.
  • The Rover, Part II, Act I (1681).

• Come away; poverty's catching.
  • The Rover, Part II, Act I.

• Money speaks sense in a language all nations understand.
  • The Rover, Part II, Act III, sc. i.

• One hour of right-down love is worth an age of dully living on.
  • The Rover, Part II, Act V.

• A brave world, sir, full of religion, knavery, and change: we shall shortly see better days.
  • The Roundheads (1682).

• Faith, sir, we are here today, and gone tomorrow.
  • The Lucky Chance, Act IV (1686).

• Love ceases to be a pleasure when it ceases to be a secret.
  • The Lover's Watch, "Four o'Clock General Conversation" (1686).

• Oh what a dear ravishing thing is the beginning of an Amour!
  • The Emperor of the Moon, Act I, sc. i (1687).

• He that knew all that ever Learning writ,
  Knew only this - that he knew nothing yet.
  • The Emperor of the Moon, Act III, sc. iii.

• Nothing is more capable of troubling our reason, and consuming our health, than secret notions of jealousy in solitude.
  • The History of Agnes de Castro, or the Force of Generous Love (1688).

• …that perfect Tranquillity of Life, which is no where to be found, but in retreat, a faithful Friend and a good Library…
  • The Lucky Mistake (1689).

• Each moment of the happy lover's hour is worth an age of dull and common life.
  • The Younger Brother, Act III, sc. ii (published posthumously 1696).

Quotes about Behn

• She was employed by Charles II, in 1666, in a political negotiation at Antwerp, which she managed with much dexterity; but her intelligence (though well-founded) being disregarded, she renounced all state affairs, and amused herself some time with the gallantries of Antwerp; and, when she arrived at London, dedicated the rest of her life to pleasure and poetry.
  • John Nichols, A Select Collection of Poems (Vol. I): with Notes (1780).

External links

• Aphra Behn: Biography, Works, Quotes, and Additional Resources at Luminarium
• Works by Aphra Behn at Project Gutenberg