Laudator Temporis Acti

Erasmus, letter to Lorenzo Campeggi (February 5, 1520; tr. R.A.B. Mynors):

And now here too the Eden of our life has been ruined with his venom by that cunning old serpent, so that it seems to me far preferable to cultivate any garden rather than scholarship; for chives and cabbages will bring more profit to the man who grows them than nights of toil spent by the lamp.

At nunc hanc [sic] quoque vitae nostrae paradisum sic suo veneno vitiauit veterator ille serpens, vt mihi non paulo prestabilius videatur quemuis hortulum colere quam literas, videlicet cepis et caulibus plus allaturis fructus cultori suo quam ad lucernam vigilatis noctibus.

Recollections of the Table-Talk of Samuel Rogers, to which is added Porsoniana (London: Edward Moxon, 1856), p. 300:

At the house of the same gentleman I introduced Cogan to Porson, saying, "This is Mr. Cogan, who is passionately fond of what you have devoted yourself to, — Greek." Porson replied, "If Mr. Cogan is passionately fond of Greek, he must be content to dine on bread and cheese for the rest of his life."