Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 – 30 May 1744) is generally regarded as the greatest English poet of the eighteenth century, Painting by Michael Dahl. He couldn’t be reached for comment. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

CORRECTION:

Earlier, on MVP:

“Honestly, I don’t know much about Pope, but I will post more as I continue my research. Most of us, however, are familiar with his memorable line, “For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” Yes — he said that.”

Turns out I made a mistake! My second blog post is subject to my first correction! I extend my apologies to my two loyal readers!

While researching Pope’s An Essay on Criticism in the Encyclopaedia Brittanica Online (I got a free 7-day trial), I came across this:

“The work’s brilliantly polished epigrams (e.g., “A little learning is a dang’rous thing,” “To err is human; to forgive, divine,” and “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”)  while not original, have become part of the proverbial heritage of the English language.”

So Alexander Pope did not formulate these sayings – he just popularized them in An Essay on Criticism, published when he was 22 years old. I will attempt to improve my fact checking. Thank you for your patience.

Your humble and obedient servant,

MVP

“To err is human; to forgive divine.”

“Fools rush in where angels fear to tread”

“A little learning is a dang’rous thing.”