“Plots, true or false, are necessary things, To raise up commonwealths and ruin kings.”

— John Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel (1681), Part I

About John Dryden

1631 – 1700

English poet and playwright, the first Poet Laureate of England.

“Beware the fury of a patient man.”

“Whatever is, is in its causes just.”

“Genius must be born, and never can be taught.”

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

“He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”