John Vanbrugh

Sir John Vanbrugh

Sir John Vanbrugh (January 24, 1664? – March 26, 1726) was an English architect and dramatist, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace.

Quotes

• Once a woman has given you her heart you can never get rid of the rest of her.
  • The Relapse, Act II, sc. i (1697)

• Thinking is to me the greatest fatigue in the world.
  • The Relapse, Act II, sc. 1 (1697)

• No man worth having is true to his wife, or can be true to his wife, or ever was, or ever will be so.
  • The Relapse, Act III, sc. ii (1697)

• Belinda: Ay, but you know we must return good for evil.
  Lady Brute: That may be a mistake in the translation.
  • The Provoked Wife, Act I, sc. i (1698)

• When debtors once have borrowed all we have to lend, they are very apt to grow shy of their creditors' company.
  • The Provoked Wife (1698)

• He laughs best who laughs last.
  • The Country House, Act II, sc. v (1706)

• Much of a muchness.
  • The Provoked Husband. Act I, sc. i (1728)
  • Completed by Colley Cibber

• The want of a thing is perplexing enough, but the possession of it is intolerable.
  • The Confederacy, Act I, sc ii.

• As if a woman of education bought things because she wanted 'em.
  • The Confederacy, Act II, sc. i.

External links

• Vanbrugh, The Provoked Wife. Use with caution, this is an abridged and bowdlerised text.