Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

Alexander Pope Poet

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: England
  • Born: May 21, 1688
  • Died: May 30, 1744

Alexander Pope 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.

To err is human to forgive, divine. forgiveness

Slave to no sect, who takes no private road, But looks through Nature up to Nature's God. God & nature

'Tis education forms the common mind just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined. education

Tis but a part we see, and not a whole. wisdom

One science only will one genius fit so vast is art, so narrow human wit. art & science

Behold the child, by Nature's kindly law pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw. nature

Many men have been capable of doing a wise thing, more a cunning thing, but very few a generous thing. men

The learned is happy, nature to explore The fool is happy, that he knows no more. nature

Trust not yourself, but your defects to know, make use of every friend and every foe. trust

Hope springs eternal in the human breast: Man never is, but always To be Blest. hope

For Forms of Government let fools contest whatever is best administered is best. best & government

All are but parts of one stupendous whole, Whose body Nature is, and God the soul. God & nature

Hope travels through, nor quits us when we die. hope

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. fear

What some call health, if purchased by perpetual anxiety about diet, isn't much better than tedious disease. diet & health

Health consists with temperance alone. alone & health

The bookful blockhead, ignorantly read With loads of learned lumber in his head. intelligence

A work of art that contains theories is like an object on which the price tag has been left. art & work

Lo! The poor Indian, whose untutored mind sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind. God

If a man's character is to be abused there's nobody like a relative to do the business. business

Nature and nature's laws lay hid in the night. God said, Let Newton be! and all was light! God & nature

Know then this truth, enough for man to know virtue alone is happiness below. alone, happiness & truth

An honest man's the noblest work of God. God & work

Party-spirit at best is but the madness of many for the gain of a few. best

Some people will never learn anything, for this reason, because they understand everything too soon. education

Wit is the lowest form of humor. humor

Extremes in nature equal ends produce In man they join to some mysterious use. nature

A God without dominion, providence, and final causes, is nothing else but fate and nature. God & nature

The most positive men are the most credulous. men & positive

Never was it given to mortal man - To lie so boldly as we women can. women

So vast is art, so narrow human wit. art

All nature is but art unknown to thee. art & nature

They dream in courtship, but in wedlock wake. marriage

Education forms the common mind. Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined. education

But blind to former as to future fate, what mortal knows his pre-existent state? future

A little learning is a dangerous thing Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring. learning

True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, as those who move easiest have learned to dance. art

And, after all, what is a lie? 'Tis but the truth in a masquerade. truth

Woman's at best a contradiction still. best

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan The proper study of mankind is man. God

For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight, His can't be wrong whose life is in the right. faith

For fools rush in where angels fear to tread. fear

No woman ever hates a man for being in love with her, but many a woman hate a man for being a friend to her. love