Authors, like coins, grow dear as they grow old: It is the rust we value, not the gold.

alexander pope
"Imitations of Horace"
1733–1738

from wikipedia
"considered one of the greatest English poets of the eighteenth century.

Born to a Roman Catholic family in 1688, Pope was educated mostly at home, in part due to laws in force at the time upholding the status of the established Church of England. From early childhood he suffered numerous health problems, including Pott's disease (a form of tuberculosis affecting the spine) which deformed his body and stunted his growth, no doubt helping to end his life at the relatively young age of 56 in 1744. He never grew beyond 1.37m (4ft 6in)."