“Whilst the misguided Follower climbs with Pain,
Mountains of Whimsies, heapt in his own Brain,
Stumbling from Thought to Thought, falls headlong down
Into Doubt’s boundless Sea, where like to drown,
Books bear him up a-while, and make him try
To swim with Bladders of Philosophy.”

— John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

ll. 16–21.
A Satire Against Mankind (1679)

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John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester 34

English poet, and peer of the realm 1647–1680

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