Oliver Goldsmith

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774) was an English man of letters, born at Pallas or Pallasmore, co. Longford, Ireland, and celebrated in English literature as the author of the "Vicar of Wakefield". He was a born genius, but of careless ways, and could not be trained to any profession, either in the Church, in law, or in medicine, though more or less booked for all three in succession. Goldsmith set out on travel on the Continent without a penny, and supported himself by his flute and other unknown means. Thereafter he came to London, tried teaching, then literature, doing hack-work, his first work in that department being "An Inquiry into the Present State of Polite Learning in Europe," which was succeeded by his "Citizen of the World". He became a member of the "Literary Club," and associated with Johnson, Reynolds, Burke, and others. He produced poems, "The Traveller" and the "Deserted Village," besides comedies, such as "She Stoops to Conquer". He lived extravagantly, and died in debt. He also wrote histories of Greece and Rome, and "Animated Nature". He was a charming writer.

Wisdom & Quotes

• The first blow is half the battle.

- She Stoops to Conquer

• Hope, like the gleaming taper's light,

Adorns and cheers our way;
And still, as darker grows the night,
Emits a lighter ray.
- The Captivity

• Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.

- The Traveller

• And fools, who came to scoff, remained to pray.

- The Deserted Village

• Silence gives consent.

- The Good-Natured Man

Edmund Burke