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There is a proud modesty in merit.

John Dryden

Bold knaves thrive without one grain of sense, But good men starve for want of impudence.
JOHN DRYDEN

Bold Goodness Starve
Honor is but an empty bubble.
JOHN DRYDEN

Empty Respect
He who would search for pearls must dive below.
JOHN DRYDEN

Himself Pearl Search
Youth should watch joys and shoot them as they fly.
JOHN DRYDEN

Fly Joy Youth
Hushed as midnight silence.
JOHN DRYDEN

One Liner Silence
Tis a good thing to laugh at any rate; and if a straw can tickle a man, it is an instrument of happiness.
JOHN DRYDEN

Goodness Happiness Instrument Laughter Man Rate
Truth is the foundation of all knowledge and the cement of all societies.
JOHN DRYDEN

Cement Foundation Knowledge Society Truth
Desire of greatness is a godlike sin.
JOHN DRYDEN

Desire God Greatness Sin
Satire among the Romans, but not among the Greeks, was a bitter invective poem.
JOHN DRYDEN

Bitter Poem Satire
Satire is a kind of poetry in which human vices are reprehended.
JOHN DRYDEN

Human Kind Poetry Satire Vice
Love is a passion Which kindles honor into noble acts.
JOHN DRYDEN

Act Honor Love Passion
Nor is the people’s judgment always true: the most may err as grossly as the few.
JOHN DRYDEN

Judgment People True
Politicians neither love nor hate.
JOHN DRYDEN

Hate Love Politics
There’s a proud modesty in merit; averse from asking, and resolved to pay ten times the gifts it asks.
JOHN DRYDEN

Gift Modesty Proud Time
The secret pleasure of a generous act Is the great mind’s great bribe.
JOHN DRYDEN

Act Generous Greatness Pleasure Secret
If by the people you understand the multitude, the hoi polloi, ’tis no matter what they think; they are sometimes in the right, sometimes in the wrong; their judgment is a mere lottery.
JOHN DRYDEN

Judgement People Thinking Understand Wrong

There is a proud modesty in merit.

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There is a proud modesty in merit.

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