Philip Sidney Quotes

English poet, courtier, diplomat (1554-1586)

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Sir Philip Sidney (November 30 1554 – October 17 1586) was an English courtier, soldier, poet and romancer. He was a friend and patron of Edmund Spenser, whose poetry he deeply influenced. During his own lifetime he attracted extraordinary admiration throughout Europe as the model of a Christian knight and chivalrous gentleman.

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Alternative Names: Sir Philip Sidney

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A fair woman shall not only command without authority but persuade without speaking.

Who shoots at the mid-day sun, though he be sure he shall never hit the mark, yet as sure he is he shall shoot higher than who aims but at a bush.

Open suspecting others comes of secret condemning themselves.

They are never alone that are accompanied with noble thoughts.

High-erected thoughts seated in the heart of courtesy.

Thy necessity is yet greater than mine

And thou my minde aspire to higher things;
Grow rich in that which never taketh rust.

As in geometry, the oblique must be known, as well as the right; and in arithmetic, the odd as well as the even; so in actions of life, who seeth not the filthiness of evil, wanteth a great foil to perceive the beauty of virtue.

My true love hath my heart, and I have his,
By just exchange, one for the other given.