"Not to admire, is all the art I know
(Plain truth, dear Murray, needs few flowers of speech)
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"Not to admire, is all the art I know
(Plain truth, dear Murray, needs few flowers of speech)
To make men happy, or to keep them so."
(So take it in the very words of Creech)
Thus Horace wrote we all know long ago;
And thus Pope quotes the precept to re-teach
From his translation; but had none admired,
Would Pope have sung, or Horace been inspired?

Men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty billows of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, read more

Men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty billows of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, and pass themselves by.

When a nation gives birth to a man who is able to produce a great thought, another is born who read more

When a nation gives birth to a man who is able to produce a great thought, another is born who is able to understand and admire it

For fools admire, but me of sense approve.

For fools admire, but me of sense approve.

Admiration is a very short-lived passion that immediately decays upon growing familiar with its object, unless it be still fed read more

Admiration is a very short-lived passion that immediately decays upon growing familiar with its object, unless it be still fed with fresh discoveries, and kept alive by a new perpetual succession of miracles rising up to its view.

Season your admiration for a while
With an attent ear. . . .

Season your admiration for a while
With an attent ear. . . .

We live by our imagination, our admirations, and our sentiments.

We live by our imagination, our admirations, and our sentiments.

Admiration and familiarity are strangers.

Admiration and familiarity are strangers.

You always admire what you really don't understand.

You always admire what you really don't understand.