--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Satire is, indeed, the only sort of…" description: "\"Satire is, indeed, the only sort of composition in which the Latin poets whose works have come down to us were not mere imitators of foreign models; an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/thomas-b-macaulay-1980_composition_satire-is-indeed-the-only-sort-of-compos_2262748.png" --- # Satire is, indeed, the only sort of composition in which… ![“Satire is, indeed, the only sort of composition in which the Latin poets whose works have come down to us were not mere imitators of foreign models; and it is therefore the sort of composition in which they have never been excelled.” quote by Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/thomas-b-macaulay-1980_composition_satire-is-indeed-the-only-sort-of-compos_2262748.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/thomas-b-macaulay-1980_composition_satire-is-indeed-the-only-sort-of-compos_2262748.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/thomas-b-macaulay-1980_composition_satire-is-indeed-the-only-sort-of-compos_2262748.png) > “Satire is, indeed, the only sort of composition in which the Latin poets whose works have come down to us were not mere imitators of foreign models; and it is therefore the sort of composition in which they have never been excelled.” [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Latin poets uniquely created original works, never merely copying foreign models. **In simple terms:** Latin poets were truly original. Key Takeaway Value originality over imitation. Themes literature originality culture Mood analytical respectful Type critical historical When to use this quote - academic study - creative writing - comparative literature Key Concepts classical influence creative independence Questions to Reflect On - What defines true originality? - How do cultural exchanges shape art? A Different Perspective Originality can be overstated when influences are subtle. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Composition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/composition/) [Imitator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imitator/) [Latin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/latin/) [Latin Poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/latin-poets-1403293/) [Mere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mere/) [Models](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/models/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets/) [Poets Works](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets-works-5212945/) [Satire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satire/) [Satire Sort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satire-sort-667781/) ## Related quotes > [Satire is a sort of glass wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/satire-is-a-sort-of-glass-wherein-beholders-do-generally-discover/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/satire-is-a-sort-of-glass-wherein-beholders-do-generally-discover-2/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [I knew a gentleman who was so good a manager of his time that he would not even lose that small portion of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/i-knew-a-gentleman-who-was-so-good-a-manager-of-his-time-that-he/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [“When you are gunning to be like other people, you are foolishly repeating their mistakes, and the worst of it all is that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/when-you-are-gunning-to-be-like-other-people-you-are-foolishly/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [Ambrose Phillips . . . who had the honor of bringing into fashion a species of composition which has been called, after his name, Namby Pamby.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/ambrose-phillips-who-had-the-honor-of-bringing-into-fashion-a-species/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Don't be an imitator be an innovator, design your life and live it your way, not someone else's way. Stand up, stand out and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricardo-housham/don-t-be-an-imitator-be-an-innovator-design-your-life-and-live-it/) [Ricardo Housham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricardo-housham/) > [an imitator is always a poor example.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-davies/an-imitator-is-always-a-poor-example/) [Marion Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-davies/) > [The difference between a man who faces death for the sake of an idea and an imitator who goes in search of martyrdom is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-difference-between-a-man-who-faces-death-for-the-sake-of-an-idea/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [We are stereotyped creatures, imitators and copiers of our past selves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-stereotyped-creatures-imitators-and-copiers-of-our-past-selves/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [No country can become a nation by producing a race of imitators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-country-can-become-a-nation-by-producing-a-race-of-imitators/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [If I created a new depravity I would be a priestess, while my imitators would founder, after my reign, in abominable filth...Don't you think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachilde/if-i-created-a-new-depravity-i-would-be-a-priestess-while-my/) [Rachilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachilde/) > [Without good humour, learning and bravery can only confer that superiority which swells the heart of the lion in the desert, where he roars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/without-good-humour-learning-and-bravery-can-only-confer-that/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [It is not imitation that makes sons. It is sonship that make imitators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/it-is-not-imitation-that-makes-sons-it-is-sonship-that-make-imitators/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [Cafe society is as old as the hills. Starbucks and its imitators are the coffee face of the new man in a hurry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-anderson/cafe-society-is-as-old-as-the-hills-starbucks-and-its-imitators-are/) [Ian Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-anderson/) > [It is not the imitation that makes sons; it is sonship that makes imitators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/it-is-not-the-imitation-that-makes-sons-it-is-sonship-that-makes/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) ## More by Thomas B. Macaulay > [A beggarly people, A church and no steeple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/a-beggarly-people-a-church-and-no-steeple/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [We must judge a government by its general tendencies and not by its happy accidents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/we-must-judge-a-government-by-its-general-tendencies-and-not-by-its/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [None of the modes by which a magistrate is appointed, popular election, the accident of the lot, or the accident of birth, affords, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/none-of-the-modes-by-which-a-magistrate-is-appointed-popular-election/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Our estimate of a character always depends much on the manner in which that character affects our own interests and passions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/our-estimate-of-a-character-always-depends-much-on-the-manner-in/) [Thomas B. 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Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [The passages in which Milton has alluded to his own circumstances are perhaps read more frequently, and with more interest, than any other lines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/the-passages-in-which-milton-has-alluded-to-his-own-circumstances-are/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Oh, wherefore come ye forth in triumph from the north, With your hands, and your feet, and your raiment all red? And wherefore doth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/oh-wherefore-come-ye-forth-in-triumph-from-the-north-with-your-hands/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [It is, I believe, no exaggeration to say that all the historical information which has been collected in the Sanskrit language is less valuable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/it-is-i-believe-no-exaggeration-to-say-that-all-the-historical/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Ambrose Phillips . . . who had the honor of bringing into fashion a species of composition which has been called, after his name, Namby Pamby.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/ambrose-phillips-who-had-the-honor-of-bringing-into-fashion-a-species/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [In the infancy of civilization, when our island was as savage as New Guinea, when letters and arts were still unknown to Athens, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/in-the-infancy-of-civilization-when-our-island-was-as-savage-as-new/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [In truth it may be laid down as an almost universal rule that good poets are bad critics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/in-truth-it-may-be-laid-down-as-an-almost-universal-rule-that-good/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [He had a head which statuaries loved to copy, and a foot the deformity of which the beggars in the streets mimicked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/he-had-a-head-which-statuaries-loved-to-copy-and-a-foot-the-deformity/) [Thomas B. 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Likewise, visual artists... understand that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laseau/writers-and-musicians-know-well-the-importance-of-extensive-reading/) [Paul Laseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laseau/) > [A composition is always more than the sum of its parts. In other words, a really good piece of music is more than itself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yo-yo-ma/a-composition-is-always-more-than-the-sum-of-its-parts-in-other-words/) [Yo-Yo Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yo-yo-ma/) > [When I start writing a new imaginary future, I have no idea what it is. The characters arrive first. 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