I now wish that I had spent somewhat more of my life with verse. This is not because I fear having missed out on truths that are incapable of statement in prose. There are no such truths; there is nothing about death that Swinburne and Landor knew but Epicurus and Heidegger failed to grasp. Rather, it is because I would have lived more fully if I had been able to rattle off more old chestnuts — just as I would have if I had made more close friends.

~ Richard M. Rorty

Richard M. Rorty Algernon Charles Swinburne Algernon Swinburne Epicurus Heidegger Landor Martin Heidegger Poetry Verse Walter Landor Walter Savage Landor

The mimicry of passion is the most intolerable of all poses.

~ Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde Affectations Algernon Charles Swinburne Literary Criticism Mimicry Passion Poetry Poseurs Pretension