Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.

Lord Lyttelton

All my glories die,
Like flowers transplanted to a colder sky.

Fade away like a thin vapory cloud.

Fair as the garden of God.

Plain good sense, like a dish of solid beef or mutton, is proper only for peasants; but a ragout of folly, well dressed with a sharp sauce of wit, is fit to be served up at an Emperor’s table.

Subtle as a snake.

Nor make to dangerous wit a vain pretense,
But wisely rest content with modest sense;
For wit, like wine, intoxicates the brain,
Too strong for feeble women to sustain:
Of those who claim it more than half have none;
And half of those who have it are undone.

Hard is the fortune that your sex attends;
Women, like princes, find few real friends:
And who approach them their own ends pursue;
Lovers and ministers are seldom true.

Witty Writings, when directed to serve the good ends of Virtue and Religion, are like the Lights hung out in a Pharos, to guide the Mariners safe through dangerous Seas; but the Brightness of those, that are impious or immoral, shines only to betray, and lead Men to Destruction.

Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD