Shakespeare’s works shimmer with memorable lines. From “All that glitters is not gold” to “There’s method in his madness,” these flashes of wit and wisdom have achieved a timeless relevance.
The work of other notable 17th-century playwrights like Moliere and Racine — produced shortly after Shakespeare’s death in 1616 — also contain stellar, if less commonly quoted, literary nuggets. Here are a few examples worth remembering.
The Cid (1636)
by Pierre Corneille
Time, suddenly, today, tomorrow,
can change the greatest joy to darkest sorrow
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What senseless fury and impotent rage
one feels at the hard weakness of old age!
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When pride must cause desire to be lost
How many sighs and tears shall mark the cost
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I…must see myself now doomed by sagging age,
insulted, vanquished by my body’s cage
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The Misanthrope (1666)
by Moliere
What, in this shallow age, is not debased?
Our fathers, though less refined, had better taste.
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All men are so detestable in my eyes,
I should be sorry if they thought me wise
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Sincerity in excess can get you into a very pretty mess
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It’s flatterers like you whose foolish praise
nourishes all the vices of these days
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She holds that naked statues are immoral,
but with a naked man she’d have no quarrel
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Lovers are no great trouble to collect
