“Good humour is the only shield to keep off the darts of the satirical railer: if you have a quiver well stored, and are sure of hitting him between the joints of the harness, do not spare him; but you had better not bend your bow than miss your aim.”
The Dignity of Human Nature (1754)
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James Burgh 49
British politician 1714–1775Related quotes

“Aim high. You may still miss the target but at least you won’t shoot your foot off.”
Vorkosigan Saga, Komarr (1998)
Source: Miles in Love

[Baqir Sharīf al-Qurashi, The life of Imam Muhammad al-Jawad, Wonderful Maxims and Arts, 2005]

1850s, Latter-Day Pamphlets (1850), Model Prisons (March 1, 1850)

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 433.

“Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.”
As quoted in The Power of Choice (2007) by Joyce Guccione, p. 199
also attributed to Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) and Les Brown (1912–2001)
Misattributed

“When a man steals your wife there is no better revenge than to let him keep her.”
Book of Humorous Quotations, ed. Connie Robertson (1998), page 83