Life has been compared to a race, but the allusion improves by observi…

Oliver Goldsmith
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Life has been compared to a race, but the allusion improves by observing, that the most swift are usually the least manageable and the most likely to stray from the course. Great abilities have always been less serviceable to the possessors than moderate ones.
Life
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Even children follow'd with endearing wile, And pluck'd his gown, to share the good man's smile. ✨ Oliver Goldsmith (1806). The Poetical Works, p.31
As few subjects are more interesting to society, so few have been more frequently written upon than the education of youth. ✨ Oliver Goldsmith (1844). Poems, Plays and Essays, p.279
People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy. ✨ Oliver Goldsmith (1835). The Works of Oliver Goldsmith, M.B.: With a Life and Notes, p.86
Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies. ✨ Oliver Goldsmith (1898). She Stoops to Conquer; Or, The Mistakes of a Night: A Comedy ...
There is nothing so absurd or ridiculous that has not at some time been said by some philosopher.

Life has been compared to a race, but the allusion improves by observing, that the most swift are usually the least manageable and the most likely to stray from the course. Great abilities have always been less serviceable to the possessors than moderate ones.

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