There is one way by which a strolling player may be ever secure of success; that is, in our theatrical way of expressing it, to make a great deal of the character. To speak and act as in common life is not playing, nor is it what people come to see; natural speaking, like sweet wine, runs glibly over the palate and scarcely leaves any taste behind it; but being high in a part resembles vinegar, which grates upon the taste, and one feels it while he is drinking.
Oliver GoldsmithThere are some faults so nearly allied to excellence that we can scarce weed out the vice without eradicating the virtue.
Oliver GoldsmithThis same philosophy is a good horse in the stable, but an arrant jade on a journey.
Oliver Goldsmith