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In grave beginnings, and great things profest
You have oft-times, that may out-shine the rest,
A purple piece, or two stitch'd in: ...

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Notes from Wikiquote

Ben Jonson, Q. Horatius Flaccus: His Art of Poetry (1640) | See also Purple prose and Purple patch

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Horace (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.