• I hate the whole race. There is no believing a word they say, your professional poets, I mean there never existed a more worthless set than Byron and his friends for example.

    Duke of Wellington: I hate the whole race. There is no believing a word they say, your professional poets, I mean there never existed a more worthless set than Byron and his friends for example.
    Noted in Lady Salisbury's diary, 26 October 1833, in C. Oman 'The Gascoyne Heiress' (1968) 3