I agree to, or rather aspire to, my doom.
—Pierre Corneille (1606–1684)
O how wretched
Is that poor man that hangs on princes’ favors!
There is betwixt that smile we would aspire to,
More pangs and fears than wars or women have;
And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,
Never to hope again.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
Every other author may aspire to praise; the lexicographer can only hope to escape reproach, and even this negative recompense has been yet granted to very few.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)