„Die Welt ist nur ein großes Gefängnis, aus dem täglich einige zur Exekution geführt werden.“
Ausspruch im Gefängnis vor seiner Hinrichtung, 1618
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Walter Raleigh
Geburtstag: 1554
Todesdatum: 29. Oktober 1618
Sir Walter Raleigh war ein englischer Seefahrer, Entdecker, Soldat, Spion, Politiker, Dichter und Schriftsteller sowie Günstling der englischen Königin Elisabeth I.
Zitate Walter Raleigh
„Wenn das Herz am rechten Fleck ist, spielt es keine Rolle, wo der Kopf ist.“
Letzte Worte vor seiner Enthauptung, 29. Oktober 1618
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„Schlag schon zu, Mann!“
Letzte Worte zu seinem Scharfrichter vor seiner Enthauptung, 29. Oktober 1618
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„There is nothing exempt from the peril of mutation.“
Quelle: The Cabinet Council (published 1658), Chapter 24
„Better were it to be unborn than ill-bred.“
Quelle: Instructions to his Son and to Posterity (published 1632), Chapter II
„What dependence can I have on the alleged events of ancient history, when I find such difficulty in ascertaining the truth regarding a matter that has taken place only a few minutes ago, and almost in my own presence!“
Upon receiving discrepant accounts from the participants in a recent quarrel below his window.
Robert Chambers, Testimony: its Posture in the Scientific World http://books.google.com/books?id=pChcAAAAQAAJ& (1859) p. 12
Attributed
„He that doth not as other men do, but endeavoureth that which ought to be done, shall thereby rather incur peril than preservation; for whoso laboureth to be sincerely perfect and good shall necessarily perish, living among men that are generally evil.“
Quelle: The Cabinet Council (published 1658), Chapter 25
„Take care that thou be not made a fool by flatterers, for even the wisest men are abused by these. Know, therefore, that flatterers are the worst kind of traitors; for they will strengthen thy imperfections, encourage thee in all evils, correct thee in nothing; but so shadow and paint all thy vices and follies, as thou shalt never, by their will, discern evil from good, or vice from virtue.“
Quelle: Instructions to his Son and to Posterity (published 1632), Chapter III
Kontext: Take care that thou be not made a fool by flatterers, for even the wisest men are abused by these. Know, therefore, that flatterers are the worst kind of traitors; for they will strengthen thy imperfections, encourage thee in all evils, correct thee in nothing; but so shadow and paint all thy vices and follies, as thou shalt never, by their will, discern evil from good, or vice from virtue. And, because all men are apt to flatter themselves, to entertain the additions of other men's praises is most perilous. Do not therefore praise thyself, except thou wilt be counted a vain-glorious fool; neither take delight in the praises of other men, except thou deserve it, and receive it from such as are worthy and honest, and will withal warn thee of thy faults; for flatterers have never any virtue — they are ever base, creeping, cowardly persons. A flatterer is said to be a beast that biteth smiling: it is said by Isaiah in this manner — "My people, they that praise thee, seduce thee, and disorder the paths of thy feet;" and David desired God to cut out the tongue of a flatterer.
But it is hard to know them from friends, they are so obsequious and full of protestations; for as a wolf resembles a dog, so doth a flatterer a friend. A flatterer is compared to an ape, who, because she cannot defend the house like a dog, labour as an ox, or bear burdens as a horse, doth therefore yet play tricks and provoke laughter. Thou mayest be sure, that he that will in private tell thee thy faults is thy friend; for he adventures thy mislike, and doth hazard thy hatred; for there are few men that can endure it, every man for the most part delighting in self-praise, which is one of the most universal follies which bewitcheth mankind.
„Historians desiring to write the actions of men, ought to set down the simple truth, and not say anything for love or hatred; also to choose such an opportunity for writing as it may be lawful to think what they will, and write what they think, which is a rare happiness of the time.“
Quelle: The Cabinet Council (published 1658), Chapter 25
„Methought I saw the grave where Laura lay.“
Verses to Edmund Spenser, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919); Comparable to: "Methought I saw my late espoused saint", John Milton, Sonnet xxiii, and "Methought I saw the footsteps of a throne", William Wordsworth, Sonnet.
„Speaking much also is a sign of vanity; for he that is lavish in words is a niggard in deeds.“
Quelle: Instructions to his Son and to Posterity (published 1632), Chapter IV
„So the heart be right, it is no matter which way the head lies.“
Stebbing's Sir Walter Raleigh, chapter 30, gives these as Raleigh's words on being asked by the executioner which way he wanted to lay his head on the block.
Attributed
„If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd's tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee and be thy Love.But fading flowers in every field,
To winter floods their treasures yield;
A honey'd tongue, a heart of gall,
Is Fancy's spring, but Sorrow's fall.“
The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd (1599), st. 1–2
Inspired by Christopher Marlowe's The Passionate Shepherd to his Love
„Whoso taketh in hand to govern a multitude, either by way of liberty or principality, and cannot assure himself of those persons that are enemies to that enterprise, doth frame a state of short perseverance.“
Quelle: The Cabinet Council (published 1658), Chapter 25
„Whoso desireth to govern well and securely, it behoveth him to have a vigilant eye to the proceedings of great princes, and to consider seriously of their designs.“
Quelle: The Cabinet Council (published 1658), Chapter 25
„Silence in love bewrays more woe
Than words, though ne’er so witty:
A beggar that is dumb, you know,
May challenge double pity.“
The Silent Lover, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
„Remember…that if thou marry for beauty, thou bindest thyself all thy life for that which perchance will never last nor please thee one year; and when thou hast it, it will be to thee of no price at all, for the desire dieth when it is attained, and the affection perisheth when it is satisfied.“
Quelle: Instructions to his Son and to Posterity (published 1632), Chapter II
