When lovely woman stoops to folly,
And finds too late that men betray,
What charm can soothe her melancholy,
What art can wash he guilt away?

The Vicar of Wakefield.

Oliver Goldsmith 1728 - 1774.

When a lovely woman stoops to folly and
Paces about her room again, alone,
She smoothes her hair with automatic hand,
And puts a record on the gramophone.

George Eliot (Mary Ann Cross) 1819-1880.

Eye Nature's walks, shoot folly as it flies,
And catch the manners living as they rise;
Laugh were we must, be candid where we can;
But vindicate the ways of God to man.

Alexander Pope

If thou remember'st not the slightest folly,
That ever love did make thee run into,
Thou hast not loved.

As you like it, Shakespeare.

Portrait by John Faed, 1819-1902.

Misce stultitiam consiliis brevem:
Dulce est desipere in loco.

Mingle some brief folly with your wisdom.
To forget it in due place is sweet.

Horace 65 - 8 B.C.

His foe was folly and his weapon wit.

(Inscription on tablet to Sir W S Gilbert)

Anthony Hope, also known as Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins.

Let the victors, when they come,
When the forts of folly fall,
Find thy body by the wall.

Matthew Arnold 1822-1888.

The picture placed the busts between
Adds to the thought much strength;
Wisdom and Wit are little seen,
But Folly ’s at full length.

On Beau Nash’s Picture at full length between the Busts of Sir Isaac Newton and Mr. Pope. 1

Note 1. This epigram is generally ascribed to Chesterfield.

O heart! O Heart! if she'd but turn her head,

You'd know the folly of being comforted.

W. B. Yeats

Painting of W. B. Yeats by his brother J. B. Yeats.

He uses his folly like a stalking-horse, and under the presentation of that he shoots his wit.

As you like it, Shakespeare.

And the feather pate of folly
Bears the falling of the sky.

A. E. Housman

Hence, vain deluding joys,
The brood of Folly without father bred.

John Milton, Il Penseroso.

Marginal drawing of Folly by Hans Holbein in the first edition of Erasmus' Praise of Folly, 1515.

But love is blind, and lovers cannot see
The pretty follies that themselves commit.

The Merchant of Venice [II. vi. 36]
Shakespeare.

In my time, the follies of the town crept slowly among us, but now they travel faster than a stage-coach.

She stoops to Conquer, 1. Oliver Goldsmith 1728-1774.

Goldsmith also wrote 'The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes' a children's story; source of the phrase 'goody two shoes'.

To--

Oh author of my being!-far more dear

To me than light, than nourishment, or rest,

Hygieia's blessings, Rapture's burning tear,

Or the life blood that mantles in my breast!

If in my heart the love of Virtue glows,

'T was planted there by an unerring rule;

From thy example the pure flame arose,

Thy life, my precept-thy good works, my school.

Could my weak pow'rs thy numerous virtues trace,

By filial love each fear should repress'd;

The blush of Incapacity I'd chance,

And stand, recorder of thy wealth, confess'd:

But since my niggard stars that gift refuse,

Concealment is the only boon I claim;

Obscure be still the unsuccessful Muse,

Who cannot raise, but would not sink, thy fame.

Oh! of my life at once the source and joy!

If e'er thy eyes these feeble lines survey,

Let their folly their intent destroy;

Accept the tribute-but forget the lay.

Fanny Burney, Evelina, 1778.

The poem was dedicated, but dedication hidden, to Fanny Burney's father, who was kept in ignorance of the writing and following publication of her first book. This poem forms the first page of the book, which was at first only published accredited to 'A lady Author'. The book is in fact not her first but the sequel to an earlier destroyed piece.

Folly

A name given to any costly structure considered to have shown folly in the builder,

- Shorter Oxford English Dictionary

But it's much, much more than that. The folly, particularly in Britain, is an attitude, a statement, a style, a fashion, a passion, a different world. . .

Follies may be found all over the world, but the British were first to recognise their worth and importance. . .

Gwyn Headley and Wim Meulenkamp have spent over thirty years reasearching 'rogue architecture'. They are co-founders of the Folly Fellowship.

Above text taken from the blurb on the back cover of Follies Grottoes and Garden Buildings by Headley and Meulenkamp, Aurem Press, 1999