Sting Quotes 

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
Muhammad Ali
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More Sting Quotes 

What, would'st thou have a serpent sting thee twice?

william shakespeare

— William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice (late 1590s), Act IV, scene 1, line 69.

Tags: What, would'st, serpent, twice

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O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Bible (NewTestament)

— 1 Corinthians15:55.

Tags: death, grave, victory

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Spring, the sweet spring, is the year's pleasant king, Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring, Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing: Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!

thomas nashe

— 1592  Summer's Last Will and Testament,'Song'.

Tags: Spring, sweet, year's, pleasant, king, Then, blooms, thing, maids

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   You seek for knowledge and wisdom as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been.

Mary Godwin Shelley

— 1818  Frankenstein, letter 4.

Tags: You, seek, knowledge, wisdom, once, ardently, hope, gratification, wishes

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A fly bit the bare pate of a bald man, who in endeavouring to crush it gave himself a hard slap. Then said the fly jeeringly, "You wanted to revenge the sting of a tiny insect with death; what will you do to yourself, who have added insult to injury?"

phaedrus

— Book V, fable 3, line 1.

Tags: fly, bare, pate, bald, man, who, endeavouring, crush, himself

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If I be waspish, best beware my sting.

william shakespeare

— The Taming of the Shrew Act II, Scene I. Said by Katherine.

Tags: of, shrew, taming, Beware, best, waspish

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It will not hurt me when I am old,      A running tide where moonlight burned           Will not sting me like silver snakes;The years will make me sad and cold,      It is the happy heart that breaks.

sara teasdale

— Moonlight

Tags: hurt, me, when, running, tide, moonlight, silver, years, sad

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Who grasp'd at earthly fame, Grasped wind: nay, worse, a serpent grasped that through His hand slid smoothly, and was gone; but left A sting behind which wrought him endless pain.

robert pollok

— Robert Pollok, The Course of Time (1827), Book III, line 533.

Tags: Who, grasp'd, earthly, fame, Grasped, wind, nay, worse, serpent

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Is it sweet, your sting?

tori amos

— "Sweet the Sting"

Tags: sweet

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Chorus: [We] must look beneath every stone, lest it conceal some orator ready to sting us. (tr. O'Neill 1938, Perseus ) Chorus: Under every stone lurks a politician. (tr. in Bartlett 1968, p. 91 or Archive.org)

Aristophanes

— Thesmophoriazusae, line 529-530
A play on the Greek proverb "Under every stone lurks a scorpion.". In context, "orator" was a synonym for "politician".

Tags: Chorus, We, look, beneath, stone, lest, conceal, orator, ready

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But by and by, the cause of my disease Gives me a pang, that inwardly doth sting, When that I think what grief it is again To live and lack the thing should rid my pain.

howard, henry, earl of surrey

— "A Complaint by Night of the Lover Not Beloved", line 11

Tags: cause, disease, Gives, me, pang, inwardly, When, think, what

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A fly, Sir, may sting a stately horse and make him wince; but one is but an insect, and the other is a horse still.

samuel johnson

— 1754, p. 72 (n. 4)
Referring to critics.

Tags: fly, Sir, may, stately, horse, him, wince, one, insect

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The assurance that we have no means of answering [final] questions is no valid excuse for callousness towards them. The more deeply should we feel, down to the roots of our being, their pressure and their sting. Whose hunger has ever been [sated] with the knowledge that he could not eat?

josé ortega y gasset

— p. 15 (History as a System (1962))

Tags: assurance, we, means, answering, final, questions, valid, excuse, callousness

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What thing is love? for (well I wot) love is a thing It is a prick, it is a sting, It is a pretty, pretty thing; It is a fire, it is a coal, Whose flame creeps in at every hole!

George Peele

— "The Hunting of Cupid" (1591).

Tags: What, thing, love, wot, prick, pretty, fire, coal, flame

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The sophist, in contradistinction to the philosopher, is not set in motion and kept in motion by the sting of the awareness of the fundamental difference between conviction or belief and genuine insight.

leo strauss

— p.116 (Natural Right and History (1953))

Tags: sophist, contradistinction, philosopher, set, motion, kept, awareness, fundamental, difference

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The man who consecrates his hours By vig'rous effort and an honest aim, At once he draws the sting of life and death; He walks with nature and her paths are peace.

Edward Young

— Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1742-1745), Night II, line 187.

Tags: man, who, consecrates, hours, effort, honest, aim, once, draws

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Think'st thou there are no serpents in the world But those who slide along the grassy sod, And sting the luckless foot that presses them? There are who in the path of social life Do bask their spotted skins in Fortune's sun, And sting the soul.

joanna baillie

— Joanna Baillie, De Montfort, Act I, scene 2.

Tags: Think'st, there, serpents, world, who, slide, grassy, sod, luckless

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Some learned writers … have compared a Scorpion to an Epigram … because as the sting of the Scorpion lyeth in the tayl, so the force and virtue of an epigram is in the conclusion.


— Edward Topsell, Serpent (1653), p. 756.

Tags: learned, writers, compared, Scorpion, Epigram, force, virtue, conclusion

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The qualities all in a bee that we meet, In an epigram never should fail; The body should always be little and sweet, And a sting should be felt in its tail.


— Attributed to Charles Yriarte by Brander Matthews, American Epigrams. Harper's Monthly (Nov., 1903).

Tags: qualities, bee, we, meet, epigram, never, fail, body, little

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And wit its honey lent, without the sting.


— Alfred Tennyson, To the Memory of Lord Talbot.

Tags: wit, honey, lent, without

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Something is wrong with the system when our children, our students, struggling peacefully to have their voices heard, are answered by the spray of chemical weapons and the sting of a baton


— Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, "Legislators demand campus change", The Davis Enterprise (2011)

Tags: Something, wrong, system, when, our, children, students, struggling, peacefully

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I have not skill From such a sharp and waspish word as "No" To pluck the sting.

henry taylor

— Philip Van Artevelde, Act I, scene 2.

Tags: skill, sharp, waspish, word, pluck

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Whether it be a poison from one serpent sting, or whether it be poison from a million of buzzing,tiny musquitoes; if there be a smart, go to Him, and He will help you bear it. He will do more, He will bear it with you; for if so be that we suffer with Him, He suffers with us.


— Alexander Maclaren, p. 588. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))

Tags: poison, one, serpent, million, there, smart, Him, help, you

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Faith draws the poison from every grief, takes the sting from every loss, and quenches the fire of every pain; and only faith can do it.


— Josiah Gilbert Holland, as quoted in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895) edited by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, p. 218

Tags: Faith, draws, poison, grief, loss, quenches, fire, pain, can

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The serpent that did sting thy father's life Now wears his crown.


— Ghost, scene v

Tags: serpent, life, Now, wears, crown

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The commons, like an angry hive of bees, That want their leader, scatter up and down, And care not who they sting in his revenge.


— Warwick, scene ii

Tags: commons, angry, hive, bees, want, leader, scatter, down, care

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What, wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee twice?


— Shylock, scene i

Tags: What, wouldst, serpent, twice

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Sometimes I'm scared of being Ozzy Osbourne. But it could have been worse. I could have been sting.

ozzy osbourne

— The Osbournes television show

Tags: Sometimes, scared, Ozzy, Osbourne, been, worse

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I find myself in situations that I know would be unbelievable pictures and I have to gauge, Is this worth taking the camera out? Am I gonna lose the moment? Am I gonna get a dirty look from sting?

john mayer

— On the split-hair decisions of photography
Ellwood, Mark (2007). "Nikon Podcast #3: Exclusive Interview with John Mayer" (listen) NikonUSA.com. Retrieved September 10, 2007

Tags: find, myself, situations, know, unbelievable, pictures, gauge, worth, taking

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