Quote #41

When Croft's 'Life of Dr. Young' was spoken of as a good imitation of Dr. Johnson's style, 'No, no,' said he, 'it is not a good imitation of Johnson; it has all his pomp without his force; it has all the nodosities of the oak, without its strength; it has all the contortions of the sibyl, without the inspiration.'

More from Edmund Burke

  1. A very great part of the mischiefs that vex the world arises from words.
  2. The art of substantiating shadows, and of lending existence to nothing.
  3. Turn over a new leaf.
  4. 'War,' says Machiavel, 'ought to be the only study of a prince;' and by a prince he means every sort of state, however constituted. 'He oug…
  5. The tyranny of a multitude is a multiplied tyranny.
  6. A good parson once said that where mystery begins religion ends. Cannot I say, as truly at least, of human laws, that where mystery begins,…
  7. I would rather sleep in the southern corner of a little country churchyard, than in the tombs of the Capulets.
  8. The writers against religion, whilst they oppose every system, are wisely careful never to set up any of their own.

All Edmund Burke quotes