Alexander Pope on Fame
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“Above all Greek, above all Roman fame.”
“All crowd, who foremost shall be damn'd to fame.”
“Unblemish'd let me live or die unknown; Oh, grant an honest fame, or grant me none!”
“Nor Fame I slight, nor her favors call; She comes unlooked for, if she comes at all.”
“Let humble Allen, with an awkward shame, Do good by stealth, and blush to find it Fame.”
“What's fame? a fancy'd life in others' breath. A thing beyond us, e'en before our death.”
“And what is Fame? the Meanest have their Day, The Greatest can but blaze, and pass away.”
“If parts allure thee, think how Bacon shin'd, The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind: Or, ravish'd with the whistling of a name, See Cromwell, damn'd to everlasting fame.”
“Scarce any Tale was sooner heard than told; And all who told it, added something new, And all who heard it, made Enlargements too, In ev'ry Ear it spread, on ev'ry Tongue it grew.”
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