Oliver Goldsmith Biography

1735-1774
The son of an Irish protestant clergyman, he graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, in 1749. He studied medicine at Edinburgh and Leiden, but he was unsuccessful as a Doctor. In 1756 he settled in London, where he was modestly successful as a contributor to periodicals and as the author of "Enquiry into the Present State of Polite Learning in Europe" (1759). But it was not until "The Citizen of the World" (1762), a series of unusual and satirical essays, that he was recognised as an gifted man of letters. His fame grew with "The Traveler"(1764), a philosophic poem, and the nostalgic pastoral "The Deserted Village" (1770). However, his literary reputation rests on his two comedies, "The Good-natur’d Man" (1768) and "She Stoops to Conquer" (1773), and his only novel, "The Vicar of Wakefield" (1766). His comedies inserted a much-needed sense of realism into the uninteresting, sentimental plays of the period. They are lively, witty, and imbued with an appealing humanity. "The Vicar of Wakefield" is the warm, humorous, melodramatic story of a country cleric and his family. Although he earned a great deal of money in his lifetime, Goldsmith’s extravagance kept him poor. Boswell depicted him as a ridiculous, blundering, but also a tenderhearted and generous creature. He had the friendship of many of the literary and artistic great of his day, the most notable being that of Samuel Johnson.

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"Don't let us make imaginary evils, when you know we have so many real ones to encounter."

"Aromatic plants bestow no spicy fragrance while they grow; but crush'd or trodden to the ground, diffuse their balmy sweets around."

"Be not affronted at a joke. If one throw salt at thee, thou wilt receive no harm, unless thou art raw."

"Every absurdity has a champion to defend it."

"Hope is such a bait, it covers any hook."

"Hope, like the gleaming taper's light, adorns and cheers our way; and still, as darker grows the night, emits a brighter ray."

"It's a damned long, boggy, dirty, dangerous way."

"Let schoolmasters puzzle their brain, With grammar, and nonsense, and learning, Good liquor, I stoutly maintain, Gives genius a better discerning."

"Modesty seldom resides in a breast that is not enriched with nobler virtues."

"Our greatest glory consists not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall. People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy."

"Surely the best way to meet the enemy is head on in the field and not wait till they plunder our very homes. The hours we pass with happy prospects in view are more pleasing than those crowded with fruition."

"The very pink of perfection."

"Where wealth accumulates, men decay."

"You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips."

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