His imagination resembled the wings of an ostrich. It enabled him to run, though not to soar. When he attempted the highest flights, he became ridiculous; but, while he remained in a lower region, he outstripped all competitors.

Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859) English writer and politician
Essay (1828-01/05), “John Dryden,” Edinburgh Review No. 93, Art. 1
    (Source)

A review of John Dryden, The Political Works of John Dryden (1826). Collected in Miscellaneous Writings, Vol. 1 (1860).