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William Shenstone

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A man has generally the good or ill qualities which he attributes to mankind.

William Shenstone (18 November 1714 – 11 February 1763) was an English poet, essayist and one of the earliest practitoners of landscape gardening through the development of his estate, The Leasowes.

Quotes

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Necessity may be the mother of lucrative invention, but it is the death of poetical invention.
  • Oft has good-nature been the fool's defence,
    And honest meaning gilded want of sense.
    • "Verses to a Lady" (1736), in Poems upon Various Occasions (Oxford: Leon Lichfield, 1737), p. 65.

The Schoolmistress (1737-48)

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Full text online
  • Her cap, far whiter than the driven snow,
    Emblem right meet of decency does yield.
    • Stanza 6
  • Pun-provoking thyme.
    • Stanza 11
  • A little bench of heedless bishops here,
    And there a chancellor in embryo.
    • Stanza 28

Works, Vol. I: Verse (1764)

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The Works in Verse and Prose of William Shenstone, Vol. I (London: R. and J. Dodsley, 1764)
  • Love is a pleasing, but a various clime!
    • "Elegy V", st. 3; p. 23.
  • I trimm'd my lamp, consumed the midnight oil.
    • "Elegy XI", st. 7; p. 41.
  • Perish the lover, whose imperfect flame
    Forgets one feature of the nymph he lov'd.
    • "Elegy XXII", st. 6; p. 82.
  • For seldom shall she hear a tale
    So sad, so tender, yet so true.
    • Jemmy Dawson: A Ballad (1745), st. 20; p. 188.
  • So sweetly she bade me adieu,
    I thought that she bade me return.
    • "A Pastoral Ballad" (1743), Part I: Absence; p. 190.
  • My banks they are furnish’d with bees,
    Whose murmur invites one to sleep.
    • "A Pastoral Ballad" (1743), Part II: Hope; p. 191.
  • I have found out a gift for my fair;
    I have found where the wood-pigeons breed.
    • "A Pastoral Ballad" (1743), Part II: Hope; p. 192.
  • Whoe'er has travell'd life's dull round,
    Where'er his stages may have been,
    May sigh to think he still has found
    The warmest welcome, at an inn.
    • "Written at an Inn at Henley" (1758), st. 6; p. 228.
    • Compare: " From thee, great God, we spring, to thee we tend,— Path, motive, guide, original, and end", Samuel Johnson, Motto to the Rambler, No. 7.
  • She pleas'd while distant, but, when near, she charm'd.
    • "The Judgment of Hercules", p. 246.
  • Let the gull'd fool the toil of war pursue,
    Where bleed the many to enrich the few.
    • "The Judgment of Hercules", p. 249.
  • Theirs is the present who can praise the past.
    • "The Judgment of Hercules", p. 258.
  • Sloth views the tow'rs of fame with envious eyes;
    Desirous still, still impotent to rise.
    • "The Judgment of Hercules", p. 259.

Essays on Men and Manners (1764)

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Shenstone's Essays on Men and Manners in One Volume (1804), online
Zealous men are ever displaying to you the strength of their belief, while judicious men are shewing you the grounds of it.
  • Let us be careful to distinguish modesty, which is ever amiable, from reserve, which is only prudent.
    • "On Reserve, a Fragment", p. 42.
  • A large, branching, aged oak, is perhaps the most venerable of all inanimate objects.
    • "Unconnected Thoughts on Gardening", p. 90.
  • A man of remarkable genius may afford to pass by a piece of wit, if it happens to border on abuse. A little genius is obliged to catch at every witticism indiscriminately.
    • "On Politics", p. 98.
  • Laws are generally found to be nets of such a texture, as the little creep through, the great break through, and the middle size are alone entangled in.
    • "On Politics", p. 99.
  • It is a miserable thing to love where one hates; and yet it is not inconsistent.
    • "Egotisms, from my own sensations" XI, p. 102.
  • Love can be founded upon nature only; or the appearance of it.
    • "On Dress" VII, p. 109.
  • Every good poet includes a critic; the reverse will not hold.
    • "On Writing and Books" LXXIX, p. 128
  • Necessity may be the mother of lucrative invention, but it is the death of poetical invention.
    • "On Writing and Books" LXXXIV, p. 129
  • Zealous men are ever displaying to you the strength of their belief, while judicious men are shewing you the grounds of it.
    • "Of Men and Manners" XIV, p. 138.
  • While we labour to subdue our passions, we should take care not to extinguish them. Subduing our passions, is disengaging ourselves from the world; to which however, Whilst we reside in it, we must always bear relation; and we may detach ourselves to such a degree as to pass an useless and insipid life, which we were not meant to do. Our existence here is at least one part of a system.

    A man has generally the good or ill qualities which he attributes to mankind.

    • "Of Men and Manners" XLIV, p. 143.
  • A fool and his words are soon parted; a man of genius and his money.
    • "Of Men and Manners" LIX, p. 147.
  • Some men are called sagacious, merely on account of their avarice: whereas a child can clench its fist the moment it is born.
    • "Of Men and Manners" LXXXVI, p. 155.
  • There seem near as many people that want passion as want reason.
    • "Of Men and Manners" LXXXVI, p. 162.
  • Independency may be found in comparative, as well as absolute abundance: I mean when a person contracts his desires within the limits of his fortune.
    • "Of Men and Manners" LXXXVI, p. 164.
  • Second thoughts are oftentimes the very worst of all thoughts.
    • "Of Men and Manners" LXXXVI, p. 166.
  • The fund of sensible discourse is limited; that of jest and badinerie is infinite.
    • "On Men and Manners", p. 176.
  • Prudent men should lock up their motives, giving only their intimates a key.
    • "On Men and Manners", p. 178.
  • Health is beauty, and the most perfect health is the most perfect beauty.
    • "On Taste", p. 197.
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