For every man's a fool to that degree:
All wish the dire prerogative to kill;
Ev'n they would have the power who want the will." - Meaning and context.">
QuotesCosmos
Satire X, ll. 156–159
“

I well believe, thou wouldst be great as he;
For every man's a fool to that degree:
All wish the dire prerogative to kill;
Ev'n they would have the power who want the will.

— John Dryden

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I well believe, thou wouldst be great as he;
For every man's a fool to that degree:
All wish the dire prerogative to kill;
Ev'n they would have the power who want the will." in the context of "Satire X, ll. 156–159" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "John Dryden" (Quotes, The Satires of Juvenal (1693)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

Tags

#John Dryden#prerogative#degreeall#believe#wouldst#killevn#great#hefor#every#power#thou#mans
John Dryden

About John Dryden

John Dryden (19 August O.S. 9 August 1631 – 12 May O.S. 1 May 1700) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate.