Skip to content

Alexander Pope on Fame

1688–1744 England

← All quotes by Alexander Pope

11 quotes

Unblemish'd let me live, or die unknown;
O grant an honest fame, or grant me none!

The Temple of Fame (1711)

All crowd, who foremost shall be damn'd to fame.

Whate'er the passion, knowledge, fame, or pelf,
Not one will change his neighbor with himself.

Nor Fame I slight, nor her favors call;
She comes unlooked for, if she comes at all.

The Temple of Fame (1711)

Nor Fame I slight, nor for her favors call;
She comes unlooked for, if she comes at all.

The Temple of Fame (1711)

Unblemish'd let me live or die unknown;
Oh, grant an honest fame, or grant me none!

The Temple of Fame (1711)

If parts allure thee, think how Bacon shin'd,
The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind:
Or, ravish'd with the whistling of a name,
See Cromwell, damn'd to everlasting fame.

And what is Fame? the Meanest have their Day,
The Greatest can but blaze, and pass away.

Let humble Allen, with an awkward shame,
Do good by stealth, and blush to find it Fame.

Above all Greek, above all Roman fame.

Scarce any Tale was sooner heard than told;
And all who told it, added something new,
And all who heard it, made Enlargements too,
In ev'ry Ear it spread, on ev'ry Tongue it grew.

The Temple of Fame (1711)

Attribution

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