The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

‘National Airs’ (1815) ‘Oft in the Stilly Night’
1.165 Thomas Osbert Mordaunt 1730-1809
Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife,
Throughout the sensual world proclaim,
One crowded hour of glorious life
Is worth an age without a name.
‘A Poem, said to be written by Major Mordaunt during the last German War’, in ‘The Bee, or Literary
Weekly Intelligencer’ 12 October 1791
1.166 Hannah More 1745-1833
For you’ll ne’er mend your fortunes, nor help the just cause,
By breaking of windows, or breaking of laws.
‘An Address to the Meeting in Spa Fields’ (1817), in H. Thompson ‘The Life of Hannah More’ (1838)
appendix, no. 7
Small habits, well pursued betimes,
May reach the dignity of crimes.
‘Florio’ (1786) pt. 1, l. 77
He liked those literary cooks
Who skim the cream of others’ books;
And ruin half an author’s graces
By plucking bon-mots from their places.
‘Florio’ (1786) pt. 1, l. 123
Did not God
Sometimes withhold in mercy what we ask,
We should be ruined at our own request.
‘Moses in the Bulrushes’ (1782) pt. 1, l. 35
Whether we consider the manual industry of the poor, or the intellectual exertions of the
superior classes, we shall find that diligent occupation, if not criminally perverted from its
purposes, is at once the instrument of virtue and the secret of happiness. Man cannot be safely
trusted with a life of leisure.
‘Christian Morals’ (1813) vol. 2
The prevailing manners of an age depend more than we are aware, or are willing to allow, on
the conduct of the women: this is one of the principal hinges on which the great machine of
human society turns.
‘Essays on Various Subjects Principally Designed for Young Ladies’ (1777)
How much it is to be regretted, that the British ladies should ever sit down contented to polish,
when they are able to reform; to entertain, when they might instruct; and to dazzle for an hour,
when they are candidates for eternity!
‘Essays on Various Subjects Principally Designed for Young Ladies’ (1777)
It is humbling to reflect, that in those countries in which the fondness for the mere persons of