“Unmoved though Witlings sneer and Rivals rail,
Studious to please, yet not ashamed to fail.”

— Samuel Johnson

The Tragedy of Irene (1749), Prologue
Context: Unmoved though Witlings sneer and Rivals rail,
Studious to please, yet not ashamed to fail.
He scorns the meek address, the suppliant strain.
With merit needless, and without it vain.
In Reason, Nature, Truth, he dares to trust:
Ye Fops, be silent: and ye Wits, be just.

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Samuel Johnson362

English writer 1709–1784

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