Wednesday, 10 May 2017

... the life of a poet.

He that misses his end will never be as much pleased as he that attains it, even when he can impute no part of his failure to himself; and when the end is to please the multitude, no man perhaps has a right, in things admitting of gradation and comparison, to throw the whole blame upon his judges, and totally to exclude diffidence and shame by a haughty consciousness of his own excellence.

—Samuel Johnson, The Lives of the Poets, "Cowley."

Friday, 5 May 2017

... a usage guide.

It's in the dictionary, but that doesn't mean you have to use it.

—William Strunk, Jr., The Elements of Style, IV, entry for "prestigious."