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Home / Books / The Works of Alexander Pope, Esq., with Notes and Illustrations, by Himself and Others. To which are Added, a New Life of the Author, an Estimate of His Poetical Character and Writings, and Occasional Remarks by William Roscoe, Esq

The Works of Alexander Pope, Esq., with Notes and Illustrations, by Himself and Others. To which are Added, a New Life of the Author, an Estimate of His Poetical Character and Writings, and Occasional Remarks by William Roscoe, Esq

Book by Alexander Pope · 27 quotes · Men, Brave, Bravery

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The Works of Alexander Pope, Esq., with Notes and Illustrations, by Himself and Others. To which are Added, a New Life of the Author, an Estimate of His Poetical Character and Writings, and Occasional Remarks by William Roscoe, Esq Quotes

“Others import yet nobler arts from France, Teach kings to fiddle, and make senates dance.”

“Of darkness visible so much be lent, as half to show, half veil, the deep intent.”

“Whether with Reason, or with Instinct blest, Know, all enjoy that pow'r which suits them best.”

“He who tells a lie is not sensible of how great a task he undertakes; for he must be forced to invent twenty more to maintain that one.”

“See Christians, Jews, one heavy sabbath keep, And all the western world believe and sleep.”

“And binding nature fast in fate, Left free the human will.”

“The best way to prove the clearness of our mind, is by showing its faults; as when a stream discovers the dirt at the bottom, it convinces us of the transparency and purity of the water.”

“Two women seldom grow intimate but at the expense of a third person; they make friendships as kings of old made leagues, who sacrificed some poor animal betwixt them, and commenced strict allies; so the ladies, after they have pulled some character to pieces, are from henceforth inviolable friends.”

“Superstition is the spleen of the soul.”

“How Instinct varies in the grov'ling swine.”

“So upright Quakers please both man and God.”

“To Him no high, no low, no great, no small; He fills, He bounds, connects and equals all!”

“Go, wiser thou! and in thy scale of sense weigh thy opinion against Providence.”

“That virtue only makes our bliss below, And all our knowledge is ourselves to know.”

“A brave man thinks no one his superior who does him an injury, for he has it then in his power to make himself superior to the other by forgiving it.”

“New, distant Scenes of endless Science rise: So pleas'd at first, the towring Alps we try.”

“The Physician, by the study and inspection of urine and ordure, approves himself in the science; and in like sort should our author accustom and exercise his imagination upon the dregs of nature.”

“Let such teach others who themselves excel, And censure freely who have written well.”

“Bear, like the Turk, no brother near the throne.”

“Who combats bravely is not therefore brave, He dreads a death-bed like the meanest slave: Who reasons wisely is not therefore wise,- His pride in reasoning, not in acting lies.”

“A brave man struggling in the storms of fate, And greatly falling with a falling state.”

“It is not so much the being exempt from faults, as having overcome them, that is an advantage to us.”

“See skulking Truth to her old cavern fled, Mountains of Casuistry heap'd o'er her head! Philosophy, that lean'd on Heav'n before, Shrinks to her second cause, and is no more. Physic of Metaphysic begs defence, And Metaphysic calls for aid on Sense! See Mystery to Mathematics fly!”

“Those oft are stratagems which errors seem Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream.”

“Not always actions show the man; we find who does a kindness is not therefore kind.”

“To be, contents his natural desire, He asks no angel's wing, no seraph's fire; But thinks, admitted to that equal sky, His faithful dog shall bear him company. Go wiser thou! and in thy scale of sense Weigh thy opinion against Providence.”

“Fine sense and exalted sense are not half so useful as common sense.”