AUTHORITY.
The rule
Of the many is not well. One must be chief
In war and one the king.
Iliad, Bk. II. HOMER. Trans. of BRYANT.
Authority intoxicates,
And makes mere sots of magistrates;
The fumes of it invade the brain,
And make men giddy, proud, and vain.
Miscellaneous Thoughts. S. BUTLER.
Thou hast seen a farmer's dog bark at a beggar,
And the creature run from the cur: There,
There, thou might'st behold the great image of authority;
A dog's obeyed in office.
King Lear, Act iv. Sc. 6. SHAKESPEARE.
O, what authority and show of truth
Can cunning sin cover itself withal!
Much Ado about Nothing, Act iv. Sc. 1. SHAKESPEARE.
AUTHORSHIP.
But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew, upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.
Don Juan, Canto III. LORD BYRON.
Habits of close attention, thinking heads,
Become more rare as dissipation spreads,
Till authors hear at length one general cry
Tickle and entertain us, or we die!
Retirement. W. COWPER.
The unhappy man, who once has trailed a pen,
Lives not to please himself, but other men;
Is always drudging, wastes his life and blood,
Yet only eats and drinks what you think good.
Prologue to Lee's Cæsar Borgia. J. DRYDEN.
Lest men suspect your tale untrue
Keep probability in view.
The traveller leaping o'er those bounds,
The credit of his book confounds.
The Painter who pleased Nobody and Everybody. J. GAY.