Walter Raleigh
Overview
 
Sir Walter Raleigh (c. 155429 October 1618) was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England.

Raleigh was born to a Protestant family in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, the son of Walter Raleigh and Catherine Champernowne. Little is known for certain of his early life, though he spent some time in Ireland, in Killua Castle
Killua Castle
Killua Castle, and the nearby Raleigh Obelisk, are situated near Clonmellon town, in north County Westmeath. The castle and the obelisk are separated by some 200 m to 300m, and belonged to the Chapman family more than two centuries ago, beginning with Captain Benjamin Chapman, patriarch of the...

, Clonmellon
Clonmellon
Clonmellon is a small town in County Westmeath, Ireland situated between Kells in County Meath and Delvin in Westmeath.-Buildings of note:* Ballinlough Castle* Clonmellon Market Yard* Killua Castle, Clonmellon Westmeath-See also:...

, County Westmeath
County Westmeath
-Economy:Westmeath has a strong agricultural economy. Initially, development occurred around the major market centres of Mullingar, Moate, and Kinnegad. Athlone developed due to its military significance, and its strategic location on the main Dublin–Galway route across the River Shannon. Mullingar...

, taking part in the suppression of rebellions and participating in the Siege of Smerwick.
Quotations

No man is wise or safe, but he that is honest.

Advice to the Earl of Rutland on his Travels (1596).

If all the world and love were young,And truth in every shepherd's tongue,These pretty pleasures might me moveTo live with thee and be thy Love.

The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd, st. 1 (1599).

So when thou hast, as I Commanded thee, done blabbing — Although to give the lie Deserves no less than stabbing —Stab at thee he that will,No stab the soul can kill.

The Lie (1608).

[History] hath triumphed over time, which besides it nothing but eternity hath triumphed over.

The History of the World, Preface (1614).

Whosoever, in writing a modern history, shall follow truth too near the heels, it may happily strike out his teeth.

The History of the World, Preface (1614).

O eloquent, just, and mighty Death! whom none could advise, thou hast persuaded; what none hath dared, thou hast done; and whom all the world hath flattered, thou only hast cast out of the world and despised; thou hast drawn together all the far-stretched greatness, all the pride, cruelty, and ambition of man, and covered it all over with these two narrow words, Hic jacet [Here lies]!

The History of the World Book V, chapter 6.

Even such is time, that takes on trustOur youth, our joys, our all we have,And pays us but with earth and dust;Who, in the dark and silent grave,When we have wandered all our ways,Shuts up the story of our days;But from this earth, this grave, this dustMy God shall raise me up, I trust!

His Own Epitaph, written the night before his execution (1618).

Cowards fear to die; but courage stout,Rather than live in snuff, will be put out.

On the snuff of a candle the night before he died; Raleigh's Remains, p. 258, ed. 1661.

 
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