The soul may be compared to a field of battle, where the armies are ready every moment to encounter. Not a single vice but has a more powerful opponent, and not one virtue but may be overborne by a combination of vices.
Oliver GoldsmithSo the loud torrent, and the whirlwind's roar, But bind him to his native mountains more.
Oliver GoldsmithPity, though it may often relieve, is but, at best, a short-lived passion, and seldom affords distress more than transitory assistance; with some it scarce lasts from the first impulse till the hand can be put into the pocket.
Oliver GoldsmithWe sometimes had those little rubs which Providence sends to enhance the value of its favors.
Oliver GoldsmithThe Europeans are themselves blind who describe fortune without sight. No first-rate beauty ever had finer eyes, or saw more clearly. They who have no other trade but seeking their fortune need never hope to find her; coquette-like, she flies from her close pursuers, and at last fixes on the plodding mechanic who stays at home and minds his business.
Oliver Goldsmith