[King René of Anjou (1409-80)] would not listen to the news of his son having lost the Kingdom of Naples, because he would not bedisturbed when painting a picture of a partridge.
Horace WalpoleArt is the filigrain of a little mind, and is twisted and involved and curled, but would reach farther if laid out in a straight line.
Horace WalpoleI shun authors, and would never have been one myself, if it obliged me to keep such bad company.
Horace WalpoleWhen the Prince of Piedmont [later Charles Emmanuel IV, King of Sardinia] was seven years old, his preceptor instructing him in mythology told him all the vices were enclosed in Pandora's box. "What! all!" said the Prince. "Yes, all." "No," said the Prince; "curiosity must have been without.
Horace Walpole