Alexander Pope

Condition, circumstance, is not the thing;
Bliss is the same in subject or in king.

Condition, circumstance, is not the thing;
Bliss is the same in subject or in king.

Poets heap virtues, painters gems, at will,
And show their zeal, and hide their want of skill.

Poets heap virtues, painters gems, at will,
And show their zeal, and hide their want of skill.

To wake the soul by tender strokes of art,
To raise the genius, and to mend the heart;
read more

To wake the soul by tender strokes of art,
To raise the genius, and to mend the heart;
To make mankind, in conscious virtue bold,
Live o'er each scene, and be what they behold--
For this the tragic Muse first trod the stage.

What the weak head with strongest bias rules,
Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools.

What the weak head with strongest bias rules,
Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools.

Divert her eyes with pictures in the fire.

Divert her eyes with pictures in the fire.