O, for an engine, to keep back all clocks, or make the sun forget his motion!
Meaning of the quote
The quote suggests that the poet wishes for a magical device that could stop time or slow down the sun's movement across the sky. The poet seems to long for a way to pause or slow down the relentless passage of time, perhaps to savor a moment or have more time to complete a task. This quote reflects the human desire to have control over the inexorable march of time and the natural cycles of the universe.
About Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson was an renowned English playwright and poet who had a lasting impact on English literature. He is best known for his satirical plays and lyrical poetry, and is considered the second most important dramatist of the Jacobean era, after William Shakespeare.
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Ill fortune never crushed that man whom good fortune deceived not.
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True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends, but in the worth and choice.
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In small proportions we just beauties see; And in short measures, life may perfect be.
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Language most shows a man, speak that I may see thee.
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Ambition makes more trusty slaves than need.
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To speak and to speak well, are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks.
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He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master.
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Drink to me only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine; Or leave a kiss but in the cup And I’ll not look for wine.
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Talking is the disease of age.
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They that know no evil will suspect none.
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‘Tis the common disease of all your musicians that they know no mean, to be entreated, either to begin or end.
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If you be sick, your own thoughts make you sick.
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There is no greater hell than to be a prisoner of fear.
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I do honour the very flea of his dog.
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Let them call it mischief: When it is past and prospered t’will be virtue.
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Neither do thou lust after that tawny weed tobacco.
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Fortune, that favors fools.
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This is the very womb and bed of enormity.
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Vice Is like a fury to the vicious mind, And turns delight itself to punishment.
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Success produces confidence; confidence relaxes industry, and negligence ruins the reputation which accuracy had raised.
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Weigh the meaning and look not at the words.
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Honor’s a good brooch to wear in a man’s hat at all times.
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They say Princes learn no art truly, but the art of horsemanship. The reason is, the brave beast is no flatterer. He will throw a prince as soon as his groom.
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Talking and eloquence are not the same: to speak, and to speak well, are two things.
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He threatens many that hath injured one.
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He knows not his own strength that has not met adversity.
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O, for an engine, to keep back all clocks, or make the sun forget his motion!
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Apes are apes, though clothed in scarlet.
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And though thou hadst small Latin, and less Greek.
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Good men are the stars, the planets of the ages wherein they live, and illustrate the times.
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Art hath an enemy called Ignorance.
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A woman, the more curious she is about her face, is commonly the more careless about her house.
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