Quote#Wisdom
The modern practice of authors is rather to rival than assist one…
Quote byJoseph Ritson · 1752–1803
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Enemies, The Letters of Joseph Ritson, Volume II p. 140.
English (original)
The modern practice of authors is rather to rival than assist one another; and indeed a mysterious jealousy on one side seems naturally enough to generate a secret hostility on the other.
— Joseph Ritson
More from Joseph Ritson
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.
It has been frequently said that fools make knaves; it is equally true, I believe, that credulity is the parent of falsehood.
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 …
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, …
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?"
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.