--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Be thou the first true merit to befriend…" description: "\"“Be thou the first true merit to befriend; His praise is lost, who stays till all commend. Short is the date, alas, of modern rhymes, And 'tis but just..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd6/alexander-pope-235_golden-age_be-thou-the-first-true-merit-to-befriend_1949536.jpg" --- # Be thou the first true merit to befriend; His praise is… ![“Be thou the first true merit to befriend; His praise is lost, who stays till all commend. Short is the date, alas, of modern rhymes, And 'tis but just to let 'em live betimes. No longer now that golden age appears, When patriarch wits surviv'd a thousand years: Now length of Fame (our second life)…” quote by Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd6/alexander-pope-235_golden-age_be-thou-the-first-true-merit-to-befriend_1949536.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd6/alexander-pope-235_golden-age_be-thou-the-first-true-merit-to-befriend_1949536.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd6/alexander-pope-235_golden-age_be-thou-the-first-true-merit-to-befriend_1949536.jpg) > ““Be thou the first true merit to befriend; His praise is lost, who stays till all commend. Short is the date, alas, of modern rhymes, And 'tis but just to let 'em live betimes. No longer now that golden age appears, When patriarch wits surviv'd a thousand years: Now length of Fame (our second life) is lost, And bare threescore is all ev'n that can boast; Our sons their fathers' failing language see, And such as Chaucer is, shall Dryden be.”” [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A critique of fleeting fame and the decline of literary merit, contrasting past greats with modern mediocrity. **In simple terms:** Fame is fleeting and modern writing lacks depth. Key Takeaway Focus on lasting value over fleeting praise. Themes literary decline fame legacy culture Mood critical contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - academic discourse - creative writing - cultural criticism Key Concepts ephemerality cultural decay artistic standards Questions to Reflect On - How can we revive depth in contemporary writing? - What defines true literary merit today? A Different Perspective Modern works may still hold hidden merit. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Golden age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/golden-age/) [Thousand years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-years/) ## Related quotes > [Be thou the first true merit to befriend, his praise is lost who stays till all commend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/be-thou-the-first-true-merit-to-befriend-his-praise-is-lost-who-stays-2/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [“Go, wiser thou! and in thy scale of sense Weigh thy Opinion against Providence; Call Imperfection what thou fancy'st such, Say, here he gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/go-wiser-thou-and-in-thy-scale-of-sense-weigh-thy-opinion-against/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [That, chang'd thro' all and yet in all the same, Great in the Earth as in th' Ætherial frame, Warms in the Sun, refreshes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/that-chang-d-thro-all-and-yet-in-all-the-same-great-in-the-earth-as/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [To be, contents his natural desire, He asks no angel's wing, no seraph's fire; But thinks, admitted to that equal sky, His faithful dog…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/to-be-contents-his-natural-desire-he-asks-no-angel-s-wing-no-seraph-s/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [I am here to tell you, TV is not dead. Rather, it is constantly evolving as we are. My view is that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-dubuc/i-am-here-to-tell-you-tv-is-not-dead-rather-it-is-constantly-evolving/) [Nancy Dubuc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-dubuc/) > [“Many 18th- and 19th-century artists rejected, criticized, or ignored the Industrial Revolution. Instead of uplifting man, industry seemed to demoralize and dehumanize him. Men,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-bryant-wilder/many-18th-and-19th-century-artists-rejected-criticized-or-ignored-the/) Jesse Bryant Wilder > [The '50s was the golden age of music all over the world for some crazy, 'X-File'-like reason I can't quite understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ry-cooder/the-50s-was-the-golden-age-of-music-all-over-the-world-for-some-crazy/) [Ry Cooder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ry-cooder/) > [I find myself now preaching about the golden age of manned spaceflight, because something went on there, within us, that we’re missing. When we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-cunningham/i-find-myself-now-preaching-about-the-golden-age-of-manned/) [Walter Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-cunningham/) > [You just never know when you're living in a golden age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-payne/you-just-never-know-when-you-re-living-in-a-golden-age/) [Alexander Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-payne/) > [“Your time is a good time, and though I have to leave, you can stay. How lucky you are to be in the city…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-helprin/your-time-is-a-good-time-and-though-i-have-to-leave-you-can-stay-how/) [Mark Helprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-helprin/) > [I often think that those people are the happiest who know nothing at all of the world, and sitting in the little empire of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-montagu/i-often-think-that-those-people-are-the-happiest-who-know-nothing-at/) [Elizabeth Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-montagu/) > [I have the most wonderful childhood memories of holidays in the golden age before foreign package holidays were even a glint in Michael O'Leary's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-hartley-brewer/i-have-the-most-wonderful-childhood-memories-of-holidays-in-the/) [Julia Hartley-Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-hartley-brewer/) > [I come from the golden age of hip hop when all the greats came on the scene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coolio/i-come-from-the-golden-age-of-hip-hop-when-all-the-greats-came-on-the/) [Coolio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coolio/) > [Life's golden age is when the kids are too old to need baby-sitters and too young to borrow the family car.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-s-golden-age-is-when-the-kids-are-too-old-to-need-baby-sitters/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We're in a golden age for television. TV 25 years ago was slow, plodding , boring. The production values were not great. Today it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-dunbar/we-re-in-a-golden-age-for-television-tv-25-years-ago-was-slow/) [Adrian Dunbar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-dunbar/) ## More by Alexander Pope > [How do we know that we have a right to kill creatures that we are so little above, as dogs, for our curiosity or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/how-do-we-know-that-we-have-a-right-to-kill-creatures-that-we-are-so/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [To wake the soul by tender strokes of art, To raise the genius, and to mend the heart; To make mankind, in conscious virtue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/to-wake-the-soul-by-tender-strokes-of-art-to-raise-the-genius-and-to/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [A mighty maze! But not without a plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/a-mighty-maze-but-not-without-a-plan/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Let such teach others who themselves excel, And censure freely who have written well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/let-such-teach-others-who-themselves-excel-and-censure-freely-who/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [For I, who hold sage Homer's rule the best, Welcome the coming, speed the going guest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/for-i-who-hold-sage-homer-s-rule-the-best-welcome-the-coming-speed/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Like following life through creatures you dissect, You lose it in the moment you detect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/like-following-life-through-creatures-you-dissect-you-lose-it-in-the/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [When two people compliment each other with the choice of anything, each of them generally gets that which he likes least.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/when-two-people-compliment-each-other-with-the-choice-of-anything/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Such labour'd nothings, in so strange a style, Amaze th' unlearn'd and make the learned smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/such-labour-d-nothings-in-so-strange-a-style-amaze-th-unlearn-d-and/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/charms-strike-the-sight-but-merit-wins-the-soul/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [She went from opera, park, assembly, play, To morning walks, and prayers three hours a day. To part her time 'twixt reading and bohea,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/she-went-from-opera-park-assembly-play-to-morning-walks-and-prayers/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [I am satisfied to trifle away my time, rather than let it stick by me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/i-am-satisfied-to-trifle-away-my-time-rather-than-let-it-stick-by-me/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [The greatest advantage I know of being thought a wit by the world is, that it gives one the greater freedom of playing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/the-greatest-advantage-i-know-of-being-thought-a-wit-by-the-world-is/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Then say not Man's imperfect,Heav'n in fault; Say rather, Man's as perfect ashe ought:](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/then-say-not-man-s-imperfect-heav-n-in-fault-say-rather-man-s-as/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [First follow Nature, and your judgment frame By her just standard, which is still the same: Unerring nature, still divinely bright, One clear, unchanged,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/first-follow-nature-and-your-judgment-frame-by-her-just-standard/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Who shall decide when doctors disagree, And soundest casuists doubt, like you and me?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/who-shall-decide-when-doctors-disagree-and-soundest-casuists-doubt/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) [Explore all 850 Alexander Pope quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) ## More Golden age quotes > [We're in a golden age for television. TV 25 years ago was slow, plodding , boring. The production values were not great. Today it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-dunbar/we-re-in-a-golden-age-for-television-tv-25-years-ago-was-slow/) [Adrian Dunbar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-dunbar/) > [Life's golden age is when the kids are too old to need baby-sitters and too young to borrow the family car.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-s-golden-age-is-when-the-kids-are-too-old-to-need-baby-sitters/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I come from the golden age of hip hop when all the greats came on the scene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coolio/i-come-from-the-golden-age-of-hip-hop-when-all-the-greats-came-on-the/) [Coolio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coolio/) > [I have the most wonderful childhood memories of holidays in the golden age before foreign package holidays were even a glint in Michael O'Leary's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-hartley-brewer/i-have-the-most-wonderful-childhood-memories-of-holidays-in-the/) [Julia Hartley-Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-hartley-brewer/) > [I often think that those people are the happiest who know nothing at all of the world, and sitting in the little empire of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-montagu/i-often-think-that-those-people-are-the-happiest-who-know-nothing-at/) [Elizabeth Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-montagu/) > [“Your time is a good time, and though I have to leave, you can stay. How lucky you are to be in the city…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-helprin/your-time-is-a-good-time-and-though-i-have-to-leave-you-can-stay-how/) [Mark Helprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-helprin/) > [You just never know when you're living in a golden age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-payne/you-just-never-know-when-you-re-living-in-a-golden-age/) [Alexander Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-payne/) > [I find myself now preaching about the golden age of manned spaceflight, because something went on there, within us, that we’re missing. When we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-cunningham/i-find-myself-now-preaching-about-the-golden-age-of-manned/) [Walter Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-cunningham/) > [The '50s was the golden age of music all over the world for some crazy, 'X-File'-like reason I can't quite understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ry-cooder/the-50s-was-the-golden-age-of-music-all-over-the-world-for-some-crazy/) [Ry Cooder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ry-cooder/) > [“Many 18th- and 19th-century artists rejected, criticized, or ignored the Industrial Revolution. Instead of uplifting man, industry seemed to demoralize and dehumanize him. Men,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-bryant-wilder/many-18th-and-19th-century-artists-rejected-criticized-or-ignored-the/) Jesse Bryant Wilder > [I am here to tell you, TV is not dead. Rather, it is constantly evolving as we are. My view is that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-dubuc/i-am-here-to-tell-you-tv-is-not-dead-rather-it-is-constantly-evolving/) [Nancy Dubuc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-dubuc/) > [“For the Arabs, and the above all for the 1.2 million Arabs of Palestine, the partitioning of the land in which they had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-collins/for-the-arabs-and-the-above-all-for-the-1-2-million-arabs-of/) [Larry Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-collins/) > [“In the narrative of his third voyage Columbus wrote: "For I believe that the earthly Paradise lies here, which no one can enter except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/in-the-narrative-of-his-third-voyage-columbus-wrote-for-i-believe/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“One cannot, therefore, understand Arabic science without considering the extent to which Islam influenced scientific and philosophical thought. Arabic science was, throughout its golden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-al-khalili/one-cannot-therefore-understand-arabic-science-without-considering/) [Jim Al-Khalili](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-al-khalili/) > [As Indians, we must of course learn from the past; but we must remain focused on the future. In my view, education is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pranab-mukherjee/as-indians-we-must-of-course-learn-from-the-past-but-we-must-remain/) [Pranab Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pranab-mukherjee/) [Browse all 344 Golden age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/golden-age/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Be thou the first true merit to befriend; His praise is lost, who stays till all commend. Short is the date, alas, of modern rhymes, And 'tis but just to let 'em live betimes. 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