Quote#Politics & Power
Ritson: "That same power, one may answer, which authorises kings to…
Quote byJoseph Ritson · 1752–1803
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Joseph Ritson, in answer to Fuller about Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Volume 1, p. xl.
English (original)
Ritson: "That same power, one may answer, which authorises kings to take where it can be worst spared, and give it where it is least wanted. Our hero, in this respect, was a knight-errant; and wanted no other commission than that of justice, whose cause he militated."
— Joseph Ritson
More from Joseph Ritson
It has been frequently said that fools make knaves; it is equally true, I believe, that credulity is the parent of falsehood.
As writing seems to be attended with some difficulty if not uneasiness, you have only to put down a figure of 4 or 5 before a cypher to satisfy me of the verity of the matter: a nod, you know, is as good as a wink to a blind horse.
I am much obliged by the pains you have taken in detecting the blunders of the English Anthology. Some of them, however, are those of the author himself, or of the authority, at least, whence the piece is taken, and for these, of course, …
You complain, I see, that I have too much acidity in my composition; and, I think, you have too much puritanism. St. Matthew, vii. 5.
Dr. Fuller to Ritson: "But Who made him[Robin Hood] a judge? or gave him a commission to take where it might be best spared, and give where it was most wanted?"
It may be impossible to prolong life, but it is frequently in our power to smooth the approaches of death; and they who die happily are certainly more to be envied than those who live otherwise.