I'd just as soon a beggar as king,
And the reason I'll tell you for why;
A read more

I'd just as soon a beggar as king,
And the reason I'll tell you for why;
A king cannot swagger, not drink like a beggar,
Nor be half so happy as I.
. . . .
Let the back and side go bare.

It needs not nor it boots thee not, proud queen,
Unless the adage must be verified,
That read more

It needs not nor it boots thee not, proud queen,
Unless the adage must be verified,
That beggars mounted run their horse to death.

I see, sir, you are liberal in offers.
You taught me first to beg, and now methinks
read more

I see, sir, you are liberal in offers.
You taught me first to beg, and now methinks
You teach me how a beggar should be answered.

Better a living beggar than a buried emperor.
[Fr., Mieux vaut goujat debout qu'empereur enterre.]

Better a living beggar than a buried emperor.
[Fr., Mieux vaut goujat debout qu'empereur enterre.]

Set a beggar on horseback, and he will ride a gallop.
[Set a beggar on horseback, and he'll outride read more

Set a beggar on horseback, and he will ride a gallop.
[Set a beggar on horseback, and he'll outride the Devil.]

Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thanks, but I thank you; and
sure, dear friends, my read more

Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thanks, but I thank you; and
sure, dear friends, my thanks are too dear a halfpenny.

He who begs timidly courts a refusal.
[Lat., Qui timide rogat,
Docet negare.]

He who begs timidly courts a refusal.
[Lat., Qui timide rogat,
Docet negare.]

The real beggar is indeed the true and only king.
[Ger., Der wahre Bettler ist
Doch einzig read more

The real beggar is indeed the true and only king.
[Ger., Der wahre Bettler ist
Doch einzig und allein der wahre Konig.]

Not that I have the power to clutch my hand
When his fair angels would salute by palm,
read more

Not that I have the power to clutch my hand
When his fair angels would salute by palm,
But for my hand, as unattempted yet,
Like a poor beggar, raileth on the rich.
Well, whiles I am a beggar, I will rail
And say there is no sin but to be rich;
And being rich, my virtue then shall be
To say there is no vice but beggary.