Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 – 30 May 1744) 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.

Famous quotes by alexander pope:

    Scarfs, garters, gold, amuse his riper stage,
    And beads and prayer-books are the toys of age:
    Pleased with this bauble still, as that before;
    ‘Till tired he sleeps, and life’s poor play is o’er.
    Alexander Pope (1688–1744)

    Fondly we think we honour merit then,
    When we but praise ourselves in other men.
    Alexander Pope (1688–1744)

    Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,
    And, without sneering, teach the rest to sneer;
    Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike,
    Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike;
    Alike reserved to blame, or to commend,
    A timorous foe, and a suspicious friend;
    Dreading e’en fools, by flatterers besieged,
    And so obliging, that he ne’er obliged;
    Like Cato, give his little senate laws,
    And sit attentive to his own applause:
    Alexander Pope (1688–1744)

    The hungry judges soon the sentence sign,
    And wretches hang that jurymen may dine.
    Alexander Pope (1688–1744)

    Up to her godly garret after sev’n,
    There starve and pray, for that’s the way to heav’n.
    Alexander Pope (1688–1744)