“The gods, likening themselves to all kinds of strangers, go in various disguises from city to city, observing the wrongdoing and the righteousness of men.Homer
“So it is that the gods do not give all men gifts of grace—neither good looks nor intelligence nor eloquence.Homer
“Imagine then, by miracle, with me, (Ambiguous gifts, as what gods give must be) What could not possibly be there, And learn a style from a despair. William Empson
“Death closes all: but something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done, Not unbecoming men that strove with gods. Alfred Lord Tennyson