“Though the most be players, some must be spectators.”

— Ben Jonson, Timber: or Discoveries, 1640

About Ben Jonson

1572 – 1637

English playwright and poet, author of "Volpone".

“Thou art but gone before, whither the world must follow.”

“Art hath an enemy call'd ignorance.”

“Of all wild beasts preserve me from a tyrant; and of all tame, a flatterer.”

“Let whatever appears to be the best be to you an inviolable law.”

“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”

“All that glisters is not gold.”

“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”

“And one man in his time plays many parts.”

“Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.”