Wine makes a man better pleased with himself. I do not say that it makes him more pleasing to others.

A thousand years may elapse before there shall appear another man with a power of versification equal to that of Pope.

Most men are unwilling to be taught.

Consultation and compliance can conduce little to the perfection of any literary performance; for whoever is so doubtful of his own abilities as to encourage the remarks of others, will find himself every day embarrassed with new difficulties, and will harass his mind, in vain, with the hopeless labour of uniting heterogeneous ideas, digesting independent hints, and collecting into one point the several rays of borrowed light, emitted often with contrary directions.

Patron: One who countenances, supports or protects. Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is repaid in flattery.

A man will turn over half a library to make one book.

What I gained by being in France was learning to be better satisfied with my own country.