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Alexander Pope on Advice

1688–1744 England

← All quotes by Alexander Pope

10 quotes

Be not the first by whom the new are tried,
Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.

An Essay on Criticism (1709)

Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss.

An Essay on Criticism (1709)

When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw,
The line too labours, and the words move slow.

An Essay on Criticism (1709)

Be niggards of advice on no pretense;
For the worst avarice is that of sense.

An Essay on Criticism (1709)

The generous Critic fann'd the Poet's fire,
And taught the world with reason to admire.

An Essay on Criticism (1709)

Ah, ne'er so dire a thirst of glory boast,
Nor in the Critic let the Man be lost.

An Essay on Criticism (1709)

In every work regard the writer's End,
Since none can compass more than they intend;
And if the means be just, the conduct true,
Applause, in spite of trivial faults, is due.

An Essay on Criticism (1709)

And you, my Critics! in the chequer'd shade,
Admire new light thro' holes yourselves have made.

A perfect Judge will read each work of Wit
With the same spirit that its author writ:
Survey the Whole, nor seek slight faults to find
Where nature moves, and rapture warms the mind.

An Essay on Criticism (1709)

I lose my patience, and I own it too,
When works are censur'd, not as bad but new:
While if our Elders break all reason's laws,
These fools demand not pardon but Applause.

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Alexander Pope (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.