John Dryden Quotes: Sources, Meanings & Themes
Browse quotations by John Dryden with named works, context notes, meanings and recurring themes.
Source identified1
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“Satire is of the nature of moral philosophy, as being instructive;”
Meaning & context
Dryden treats satire as a literary form whose purpose includes moral instruction, then compares how classical satirists pursue that end.
Source details
A Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire, represented in Project Gutenberg #2615. 'Satire is of the nature of moral philosophy, as being instructive' occurs inside Dryden's comparison of Persius, Juvenal and Horace, immediately before his account of Persius's Stoic moral teaching. The source does not expose a formal subsection corresponding to the queue parser's incidental 'Discourse C' clue, so this record is routed directly to the reviewed passage without inventing a structural heading. It remains Restoration literary criticism and moral theory rather than a timeless definition binding every modern satire.
Source identified2
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“Men are but children of a larger growth;”
Meaning & context
Dolabella compares adult appetite and instability with childhood, using the maxim to criticize desires that remain changeable despite age.
Source details
All for Love, represented by Project Gutenberg #2062. Dolabella speaks the line while reflecting on Antony’s passion and his own conflicting attraction to Cleopatra. It is dramatic character speech inside a tragedy, not Dryden autobiography or a universal developmental claim.
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“Forgiveness to the injured does belong; But they ne’er pardon, who have done the wrong.”
Meaning & context
Zulema cynically suggests that pardon belongs to the person who was harmed while the wrongdoer may remain trapped in shame or hostility; the drama immediately undercuts him by showing that he plans fresh deception.
Source details
The Conquest of Granada, Part II, Act I, Scene II (‘The Alhambra’), in The Works of John Dryden, Volume IV, Project Gutenberg #15349. Zulema says ‘Forgiveness to the injured does belong’ immediately after recalling that he has been pardoned, then declares that ‘feigned honesty’ will conceal his lust and work him back into trust. The couplet is therefore compromised fictional dramatic speech, not Dryden's neutral moral instruction or a universal rule about forgiveness.
