“Beauty, like ice, our footing does betray; Who can tread sure on the smooth, slippery way: Pleased with the surface, we glide swiftly on, And see the dangers that we cannot shun.”
“Criticism, as it was first instituted by Aristotle, was meant as a standard of judging well; the chiefest part of which is to observe those excellencies which delight a reasonable reader”
“He [Shakespeare] was the man who of all modern, and perhaps ancient poets, had the largest and most comprehensive soul . . . He was naturally learned; he needed not the spectacles of books to read nature; he looked inwards, and found her there.”
“When I consider life, 'tis all a cheat. Yet, fooled by hope, men favour the deceit; trust on, and think to-morrow will repay: to-morrow's falser than the former day.”
“In pious times 'ere priest craft did begin, Before polygamy was made a sin: When man, on many, multiply'd his kind Ere one to one was, cursedly, confined; When Nature prompted, and no law deny'd Promiscuous use of concubine and bride”
“By education most have been misled; so they believe, because they were bred. The priest continues where the nurse began, and thus the child imposes on the man.”
