“There, take," says Justice, "take ye each a shell;
We thrive at Westminster on fools like you.
'T was a fat oyster! live in peace,—adieu.”

—  Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux

Tenez, voilà, dit-elle, à chacun une écaille.
Des sottises d'autrui nous vivons au palais :
Messieurs, l'huître était bonne. Adieu. Vivez en paix.
Epître ii, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919); translation by Alexander Pope, Verbatim from Boileau.

Original

Tenez, voilà, dit-elle, à chacun une écaille. Des sottises d'autrui nous vivons au palais : Messieurs, l'huître était bonne. Adieu. Vivez en paix.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux 30
French poet and critic 1636–1711

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