Foil

Famous quotes containing the word foil:

“Like bright metal on a sullen ground,
My reformation, glitt’ring o’er my fault,
Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes
Than that which hath no foil to set it off.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

“Learning is, in too many cases, but a foil to common sense; a substitute for true knowledge. Books are less often made use of as “spectacles” to look at nature with, than as blinds to keep out its strong light and shifting scenery from weak eyes and indolent dispositions.... The learned are mere literary drudges.”
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830)

“Within his crib is surest ward,
This little babe will be thy guard,
If thou wilt foil thy foes with joy,
Then flit not from this heavenly boy.”
—Robert Southwell (1561?–1595)