I inherited a vile melancholy from my father, which has made me mad all my life, at least not sober.

The essence of poetry is invention; such invention as, by producing something unexpected, surprises and delights.

Life is a progress from want to want, not from enjoyment to enjoyment.

Fear is implanted in us as a preservative from evil but its duty, like that of other passions, is not to overbear reason, but to assist it. It should not be suffered to tyrannize in the imagination, to raise phantoms of horror, or to beset life with supernumerary distresses.

Art hath an enemy called ignorance.

Deign on the passing world to turn thine eyes, And pause awhile from letters, to be wise.

Discord generally operates in little things; it is inflamed ... by contrariety of taste oftener than principles.