The gravest fish is an oyster,
The gravest bird's an owl,
The gravest beast's an ass,
And the gravest man's a fool. [ Proverb ]

An oyster may be crossed in love. [ Sheridan ]

He opens an oyster with a dagger. [ Proverb ]

Within the oyster's shell uncouth
The purest pearl may hide,
Trust me you'll find a heart of truth
Within that rough outside. [ Mrs. Osgood ]

If that a pearl may in a toad's head dwell.
And may be found too in an oyster shell. [ Bunyan ]

He was a bold man that first ate an oyster. [ Swift ]

Why, then the world's mine oyster, which I with sword will open. [ Shakespeare ]

Rich honesty dwells like a miser, in a poor house, as your pearl in your foul oyster. [ William Shakespeare ]

What can be more foolish than to think that all this rare fabric of heaven and earth could come by chance, when all the skill of art is not able to make an oyster! [ Jeremy Taylor ]