Aphra Behn

Aphra Behn, née Aphra Johnson (1640-07-10 – 1689-04-16) was a prolific Restoration dramatist and writer of amatory fiction. She was one of the first English professional woman writers.

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• No friend to Love like a long voyage at sea.
  • The Rover, Part I, Act I, sc. ii (1677)

• There's no sinner like a young saint.
  • The Rover, Part I, Act I, sc. ii

• Patience is a flatterer, sir, and an ass, sir.
  • The Feigned Courtesans, Act III, sc. i (1679)

• Variety is the soul of pleasure.
  • The Rover, Part II, Act I (1681)

• Come away; poverty's catching.
  • The Rover, Part II, Act I

• Money speaks sense in a language all nations understand.
  • The Rover, Part II, Act III, sc. i

• One hour of right-down love is worth an age of dully living on.
  • The Rover, Part II, Act V

• A brave world, sir, full of religion, knavery, and change: we shall shortly see better days.
  • The Roundheads (1682)

• Faith, sir, we are here today, and gone tomorrow.
  • The Lucky Chance, Act IV (1686)

• Love ceases to be a pleasure when it ceases to be a secret.
  • The Lover's Watch, "Four o'Clock General Conversation" (1686)

• Oh what a dear ravishing thing is the beginning of an Amour!
  • The Emperor of the Moon, Act I, sc. i (1687)

• He that knew all that ever Learning writ,
  Knew only this - that he knew nothing yet.
  • The Emperor of the Moon, Act III, sc. iii

• Nothing is more capable of troubling our reason, and consuming our health, than secret notions of jealousy in solitude.
  • The History of Agnes de Castro, or the Force of Generous Love (1688)

• …that perfect Tranquillity of Life, which is no where to be found, but in retreat, a faithful Friend and a good Library…
  • The Lucky Mistake (1689)

• Each moment of the happy lover's hour is worth an age of dull and common life.
  • The Younger Brother, Act III, sc. ii (published posthumously 1696)