Frases de John Gay

„Sin lugar a dudas, es importante desarrollar la mente de los hijos. No obstante el regalo más valioso que se les puede dar, es desarrollarles la conciencia.“

—  John Gay

„Los cobardes son crueles, el amor y la misericordia sólo acompañan al valiente.“

—  John Gay

„Debes tener mujeres, no hay nada que enderece tanto la mente como ellas.“

—  John Gay

„La mujer celosa cree todo lo que la pasión le sugiere.“

—  John Gay

„De la elección de nuestros amigos, depende nuestro buen nombre.“

—  John Gay

„Quien no amó nunca, no ha vivido jamás.“

—  John Gay

„Un enemigo declarado puede causar mucho daño, pero un amigo fingido es peor.“

—  John Gay

„Persigue el amor y este huirá. Huye del amor y este te perseguirá.“

—  John Gay

„Dígame y me olvido. Muéstremelo y lo recuerdo. Implíqueme y lo entiendo.“

—  John Gay

„La sombra debe su nacimiento a la luz.“

—  John Gay

„A man is always afraid of a woman that loves him too much“

—  John Gay

Fuente: The Beggar's Opera

„You base man you,—how can you look me in the face after what hath passed between us?—See here, perfidious wretch, how I am forc'd to bear about the load of infamy you have laid upon me— -O Macheath! thou hast robb'd me of my quiet—to see thee tortur'd would give me pleasure.“

—  John Gay

Lucy, Act II, sc. ix
The Beggar's Opera (1728)

„As we live by the Muses, it is but a Gratitude in us to encourage Poetical Merit wherever we find it. The Muses, contrary to all other Ladies, pay no Distinction to Dress, and never partially mistake the Pertness of Embroidery for Wit, nor the Modesty of Want for Dulness. Be the Author who he will, we push his Play as far as it will go. So (though you are in Want) I wish you success heartily.“

—  John Gay

"Player", Introduction
The Beggar's Opera (1728)

„The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweets.“

—  John Gay

Act II, scene ii
The Beggar's Opera (1728)

„O Polly, you might have toyed and kissed,
By keeping men off, you keep them on.“

—  John Gay

Act I, sc. viii, air 9
The Beggar's Opera (1728)

„In every age and clime we see
Two of a trade can never agree.“

—  John Gay

Fable XXI, "The Rat-catcher and Cats". Comparable to: "Potter is jealous of potter, and craftsman of craftsman; and poor man has a grudge against poor man, and poet against poet", Hesiod, Works and Days, 24; "Le potier au potier porte envie" (translated: "The potter envies the potter"), Bohn, Handbook of Proverbs; also in Arthur Murphy, The Apprentice, act iii
Fables (1727)

„A Wolf eats sheep but now and then;
Ten thousands are devour'd by men.
An open foe may prove a curse,
but a pretend friend is worse.“

—  John Gay

Fable XVII, "The Shepherd's Dog and the Wolf"
Fables (1727)

„Envy is a kind of praise.“

—  John Gay

Fable XLIV http://books.google.com/books?id=8Q9IAAAAMAAJ&q=%22envy+is+a+kind+of+praise%22&pg=PA170#v=onepage, "The Hound and the Huntsman"
Fables (1727)

„In beauty faults conspicuous grow;
The smallest speck is seen on snow.“

—  John Gay

Fable XI, "The Peacock, Turkey, and Goose"
Fables (1727)