Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

Alexander Pope Poet

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: England
  • Born: May 21, 1688
  • Died: May 30, 1744

Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. Famous for his use of the heroic couplet, he is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson.

They dream in courtship, but in wedlock wake. marriage

One science only will one genius fit so vast is art, so narrow human wit. art & science

All nature is but art unknown to thee. art & nature

No woman ever hates a man for being in love with her, but many a woman hate a man for being a friend to her. love

Woman's at best a contradiction still. best

For fools rush in where angels fear to tread. fear

A little learning is a dangerous thing Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring. learning

A God without dominion, providence, and final causes, is nothing else but fate and nature. God & nature

Many men have been capable of doing a wise thing, more a cunning thing, but very few a generous thing. men

Slave to no sect, who takes no private road, But looks through Nature up to Nature's God. God & nature

But blind to former as to future fate, what mortal knows his pre-existent state? future

Hope travels through, nor quits us when we die. hope

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan The proper study of mankind is man. God

To err is human to forgive, divine. forgiveness

Some people will never learn anything, for this reason, because they understand everything too soon. education

Health consists with temperance alone. alone & health

A work of art that contains theories is like an object on which the price tag has been left. art & work

The most positive men are the most credulous. men & positive

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. fear

All are but parts of one stupendous whole, Whose body Nature is, and God the soul. God & nature

And, after all, what is a lie? 'Tis but the truth in a masquerade. truth

If a man's character is to be abused there's nobody like a relative to do the business. business

Trust not yourself, but your defects to know, make use of every friend and every foe. trust

Behold the child, by Nature's kindly law pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw. nature

Know then this truth, enough for man to know virtue alone is happiness below. alone, happiness & truth

So vast is art, so narrow human wit. art

Hope springs eternal in the human breast: Man never is, but always To be Blest. hope

For Forms of Government let fools contest whatever is best administered is best. best & government

For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight, His can't be wrong whose life is in the right. faith

Nature and nature's laws lay hid in the night. God said, Let Newton be! and all was light! God & nature

The learned is happy, nature to explore The fool is happy, that he knows no more. nature

The bookful blockhead, ignorantly read With loads of learned lumber in his head. intelligence

Education forms the common mind. Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined. education

Lo! The poor Indian, whose untutored mind sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind. God

Never was it given to mortal man - To lie so boldly as we women can. women

Party-spirit at best is but the madness of many for the gain of a few. best

Tis but a part we see, and not a whole. wisdom

True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, as those who move easiest have learned to dance. art

Extremes in nature equal ends produce In man they join to some mysterious use. nature

What some call health, if purchased by perpetual anxiety about diet, isn't much better than tedious disease. diet & health

An honest man's the noblest work of God. God & work

'Tis education forms the common mind just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined. education

Wit is the lowest form of humor. humor

Thanksgiving November 28, 2024

The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest. 32 quotes from William Blake

32 quotes from William Blake

Drink and be thankful to the host! What seems insignificant when you have it, is important when you need it. 6 wisdom & wit from Franz Grillparzer

6 wisdom & wit from Franz Grillparzer

For what I have received may the Lord make me truly thankful. And more truly for what I have not received. 2 sayings from Storm Jameson

2 sayings from Storm Jameson

To give thanks in solitude is enough. Thanksgiving has wings and goes where it must go. Your prayer knows much more about it than you do. 73 quotes from Victor Hugo

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