Il più tristo mestier che mai sia stato, Che sia, che mai sarà nel mondo tutto, A mio parere, è quel del letterato. - Gian Carlo Passeroni

Translation: Who prints a book, ’tis by the critics deemed,
Should know, as might an angel come from heaven,
All that has e’er been writ, or even dreamed.

Translation: Thou know’st not God; how, then, canst reason find
To vaunt thy doctrine? ’tis as though thou ’dst claim
To be a judge of colours, being blind.

Translation: The very meanest trade, I’m very sure,
That e’er has been, or is, or e’er will be
In all the world, is that of literature.