Percy Bysshe Shelley

Peter was dull; he was at first
Dull;--Oh, so dull--so very dull!
Whether he talked, wrote, or read more

Peter was dull; he was at first
Dull;--Oh, so dull--so very dull!
Whether he talked, wrote, or rehearsed--
Still with his dulness was he cursed--
Dull--beyond all conception--dull.

Man has no right to kill his brother. It is no excuse that he does so in uniform: he only read more

Man has no right to kill his brother. It is no excuse that he does so in uniform: he only adds the infamy of servitude to the crime of murder.

Is it not odd that the only generous person I ever knew, who had money to be generous with, should read more

Is it not odd that the only generous person I ever knew, who had money to be generous with, should be a stockbroker.

Commerce has set the mark of selfishness,
The signet of its all-enslaving power
Upon a shining ore, read more

Commerce has set the mark of selfishness,
The signet of its all-enslaving power
Upon a shining ore, and called it gold;
Before whose image bow the vulgar great,
The vainly rich, the miserable proud,
The mob of peasants, nobles, priests, and kings,
And with blind feelings reverence the power
That grinds them to the dust of misery.
But in the temple of their hireling hearts
Gold is a living god, and rules in scorn
All earthly things but virtue.

Better than all measures
Of delightful sound,
Better than all treasures
That in books read more

Better than all measures
Of delightful sound,
Better than all treasures
That in books are found,
Thy skilled to poet were, thou scorner of the ground!