Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.
Alexander PopeRead
Those oft are stratagems which errors seem Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that what appears to be mistakes might actually be clever strategies, and that our perceptions can be misleading.
In this quote by Alexander Pope, the author reflects on the nature of perception and understanding. He suggests that what we may interpret as errors in the works of great poets, like Homer, could instead be deliberate choices, and that it is our own misconceptions that cloud our judgment. This highlights the complexities of interpretation and the idea that there is often more beneath the surface of what we perceive.
Themes
PerceptionUnderstandingInterpretationErrorsDream
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about literature, you could use this quote to emphasize the importance of interpretation.
More from Alexander Pope
All quotes βWhat dire offence from am'rous causes springs, What mighty contests rise from trivial things.
Alexander PopeRead
Fair tresses man's imperial race ensnare; And beauty draws us with a single hair.
Alexander PopeRead
An honest man's the noblest work of God.
Alexander PopeRead
One thought of thee puts all the pomp to flight;_x000D_ _x000D_ Priests, tapers, temples, swim before my sight.
Alexander PopeRead
Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?
Alexander PopeRead
Similar quotes
The first reaction to truth is hatred.
TertullianRead
She no longer believed in talk. It never rescued anything.
Alice SeboldRead
Everything we do really is just a little marker on the long road to death. And sometimes thatβs overwhelmingly depressing to me, and sometimes it makes me feel kinship and forgiveness. Weβve all got the same ending to the story. The way we make that story more elaborate, I got to respect.
Joss WhedonRead
You show me a highly unequal society, and I will show you a police state. Or an uprising. There are no counterexamples. None. It's not if, it's when.
Nick HanauerRead
And thus I clothe my naked villainy With odd old ends stol'n out of holy writ; And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.
William ShakespeareRead
Cowardice and courage are never without a measure of affectation. Nor is love. Feelings are never true. They play with their mirrors.
Jean BaudrillardRead