A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch,
Uncapable of pity, void and empty
From any dram of mercy. [ William Shakespeare ]

The coward wretch whose hand and heart
Can bear to torture aught below.
Is ever first to quail and start
From slightest pain or equal foe. [ Eliza Cook ]

It is the mind that maketh good or ill.
That maketh wretch or happy, rich or poor. [ Spenser ]

Death is but what the haughty brave,
The weak must bear, the wretch must crave. [ Byron ]

A mere madness to live like a wretch and die rich. [ Burton ]

He is the wretch that does the injury, not he that endures it. [ Proverb ]

The man that lays his hand on woman, Save in the way of kindness, is a wretch Whom 'twere gross flattery to name a coward. [ Tobin ]

The wretch that would wish the poetry of life and feeling to be extinct, let him forever dwell in flame, in frost, in ever-during night. [ Dante ]

Many a wretch has rid on a hurdle who has done less mischief than utterers of forged tales, coiners of scandal, and clippers of reputation. [ Sheridan ]

He who, when he hath the power, doeth not good, when he loses the means will suffer distress. There is not a more unfortunate wretch than the oppressor; for in the day of adversity nobody is his friend. [ Saadi ]

Gallantry, though a fashionable crime, is a very detestable one; and the wretch who pilfers from us in the hour of distress is an innocent character compared to the plunderer who wantonly robs us of happiness and reputation. [ Rev. H. Kelley ]

As soon the dust of a wretch whom thou wouldest not, as of a prince whom thou couldest not look upon, will trouble thine eyes if the wind blow it thither; and when a whirlwind hath blown the dust of the churchyard into the church, and the man sweeps out the dust of the church into the churchyard, who will undertake to sift those dusts again, and to pronounce, This is the patrician, this is the noble flower, and this the yeoman, this the plebeian bran? [ Rev. Dr. Donne ]

It is to be hoped that, with all the modern improvements, a mode will be discovered of getting rid of bores: for it is too bad that a poor wretch can be punished for stealing your pocket handkerchief or gloves, and that no punishment can be inflicted on those who steal your time, and with it your temper and patience, as well as the bright thoughts that might have entered into your mind (like the Irishman who lost the fortune before he had got it), but were frightened away by the bore. [ Byron ]