Alexander Pope

Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,
And without sneering teach the rest to sneer;
Willing read more

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 reserv'd to blame, or to commend,
A tim'rous foe, and a suspicious friend.

Nature made every fop to plague his brother,
Just as one beauty mortifies another.

Nature made every fop to plague his brother,
Just as one beauty mortifies another.

Where round some mould'ring tow'r pale ivy creeps,
And low-brow'd rocks hang nodding o'er the deeps.

Where round some mould'ring tow'r pale ivy creeps,
And low-brow'd rocks hang nodding o'er the deeps.

Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.

Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.

'Tis use alone that sanctifies expense
And splendor borrow all her rays from sense.

'Tis use alone that sanctifies expense
And splendor borrow all her rays from sense.