It is ridiculous for any man to criticize the works of another if he has not distinguished himself by his own performances

When I read the rules of criticism, I immediately inquire after the works of the author who has written them, and by that means discover what it is he likes in a composition.

Authors have established it as a kind of rule, that a man ought to be dull sometimes; as the most severe reader makes allowances for many rests and nodding-places in a voluminous writer.

Pray consider what a figure a man would make in the republic of letters.

Courage that grows from constitution often forsakes a man when he has occasion for it courage which arises from a sense of duty acts in a uniform manner

When a man becomes familiar with his goddess, she quickly sinks into a woman