Edward Young
June 1683 [Baptized 3 July 1683] - 5 April 1765
Birthplace: Upham, Hampshire, England
English playwright & poet
“All men think all men mortal, but themselves.”
~Edward Young, English poet
“The Complaint. Night the First” (1742) in The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death & Immortality, Night I, London: D. Dodsley, 1742 second edition, p. 28, line 422; online via University of California & Google Books, books.google.com
Extended excerpt [Spelling & capitalization as found in original text]:
“All men think all men Mortal, but themselves;
Themselves, when some alarming shock of Fate
Strikes thro’ their wounded hearts the suddain Dread;
But their hearts wounded, like the wounded Air,
Soon close, where past the shaft, no Trace is found” (p. 28, lines 421 – 425)
Source link: The Complaint: Or, Night Thoughts on Life, Death & Immortality (1742 D. Dodsley second edition) online via Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?id=pPE7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA28&dq=The+Complaint:+Or,+Night+Thoughts,+Night&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjjo6zstpbVAhUBeyYKHagnCw4Q6AEIOjAE#v
“Be wise with speed; a fool at forty is a fool indeed.”
~Edward Young, English poet
Love of Fame, The Universal Passion (1741) Satire II, in volume Love of Fame, The Universal Passion in Seven Characteristical Satires, London: J&R Tonson, 1741 fourth edition, p. 40, online via Oxford University & Google Books, books.google.com
Extended excerpt [Poem. Text style as it appears in cited source.]:
“While I a moment name, a moment’s past,
I’m nearer death in this verse than the last;
What then is to be done? be wise with speed:
A fool at forty is a fool indeed.” (pp. 39-40)
Source link: Love of Fame, The Universal Passion in Seven Characteristical Series (1741) online via Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?id=rMYIAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Love+of+Fame:+The+Universal+Passion+in+Seven++Characteristical+Satires
“Procrastination is the thief of time.”
~Edward Young, English poet
“The Complaint. Night the First” (1742) in The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death & Immortality, Night I, London: D. Dodsley, 1742 second edition, p. 26, line 391; online via University of California & Google Books, books.google.com
Extended excerpt [Poem. Ellipsis & capitalization original to cited text.]:
“Next day the fatal Precedent will plead;
Thus on, till Wisdom is push’d out of life:
Procrastination is the Thief of Time,
Year after year it steals, till all are fled,
And to the mercies of a Moment leaves
The vast Concerns of an Eternal scene.” (p. 26, lines 389-394)
Source link: The Complaint: Or, Night Thoughts on Life, Death & Immortality (1742 D. Dodsley second edition) online via Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?id=pPE7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA28&dq=The+Complaint:+Or,+Night+Thoughts,+Night&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjjo6zstpbVAhUBeyYKHagnCw4Q6AEIOjAE#v=onepage&q=thief&f=false
“Too low they build, who build beneath the stars.”
~Edward Young, English poet
“The Complaint. Night the Eighth” (1742) in The Complaint: or, Night Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality, Night VIII, London: A. Millar & R. Dodsley, 1750 edition, p. 247; online via Oxford University & Google Books, books.google.com
Extended excerpt [Poem. Style original to cited text.]
“What Pain to quit the World, just made their own,
Their Nest to deeply down’d, and built so high!
Too low they build, who build beneath the Stars.” (p. 247)
Source link: The Complaint: Or, Night Thoughts on Life, Death & Immortality (1742|1750 Millar & Dodsley) online via Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?id=hlIJAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA182&dq=The+Complaint:+Or,+Night+Thoughts,+Night&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjjo6zstpbVAhUBeyYKHagnCw4Q6AEIJDAA#v=onepage&q=too%20low&f=false
Misattributed to Edward Young –
“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”
~Oscar Wilde, Irish author & playwright
The Importance of Being Earnest (14 February 1895) London: St. James’s Theatre, Act II; script December 1898, London: Leonard Smithers & Co., 1899 edition, p. 100; online via Harvard University & Google Books, books.google.com
Misattribution note: A number of online resources have incorrectly attribute Wilde’s quote to the English poet & playwright Edward Young. Repeat Right editors have not located the quote or a similar version in Young’s work.
Extended excerpt [Play – character ‘Gwendolen Fairfax’ speaking to ‘Cecily Cardew’]:
Cecily: [Very politely, rising.] I am afraid you must be under some misconception. Ernest proposed to me exactly ten minutes ago. [Shows diary.].
Gwendolyn: [Examines diary through her lorgnette carefully] “It is certainly very curious, for he asked me to be his wife yesterday afternoon at 5:30. If you would care to verify the incident, pray do so. [Produces diary of her own.] I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train. I am so sorry, dear Cecily, if it is any disappointment to you, but I am afraid I have the prior claim.” (p. 100)
Source note: The Importance of Being Earnest opened on Valentine’s Day at St. James’s Theatre in London to a packed house. Publication of the play, however, was delayed after Wilde was arrested on 5 April 1895 for gross indecency. His name was removed from the play the next day, and it ultimately closed on 8 May 1895 due to a sharp decline at the box office.
To view a copy of the original program and to read more about the production, see “The Importance of Being Earnest: The First Stage Production, 1895,” online via The Victoria & Albert Musuem, London: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-importance-of-being-earnest-first-stage-production/
Source link: The Importance of Being Earnest (1898|1899 Leonard Smithers & Co. edition) online via Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?id=4HIWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP9&dq=The+importance+of+being+earnest+%2B+Leonard+Smithers&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjli7rTlfLdAhXidN8KHdqyDO0Q6AEIPjAE#v=onepage&q=never%20travel%20without%20my%20diary&f=false
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