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12 John Harington Quotes

John Harington offers a thoughtful mix of reflections on treason, advice, and the limits of books.

John Harington quotes

  1. Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason? Why, if it prosper, none dare call it treason.

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    Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

  2. Best fishing in troubled waters.

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  3. From your confessor, lawyer and physician, Hide not your case on no condition.

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  4. Books give not wisdom where none was before. But where some is, there reading makes it more.

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    Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

Also attributed

  1. Five qualities there are wine's praise advancing; Strong, beautiful, fragrant, cool and dancing.

  2. A tailor, though a man of upright dealing,-- True but for lying,--honest but for stealing,-- Did fall one day extremely sick by chance And on the sudden was in wondrous trance.

  3. Treason doth never prosper. What's the reason? Why, when it prospers, none dare call it treason.

  4. From your confessor, lawyer and doctor, hide not your case on no condition. [Is this a way of saying that honesty is the best policy?]

  5. When I make a feast, I would my guests should praise it, not the cooks.

  6. Fortune, men say, doth give too much to many, But yet she never gave enough to any.

  7. “Treason never prospers. What's the reason? Why, if it prosper, None dare call it treason.”

  8. “Treason doth never prosper: what ’s the reason? Why, if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”