John Gay Quote

Give me, kind Heaven, a private station,
A mind serene for contemplation:
Title and profit I resign;
The post of honour shall be mine.

The Vulture, the Sparrow, and other Birds. Compare: "When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway, The post of honour is a private station", Joseph Addison, Cato, Act iv, scene 4. - Fables (1727) - Fables, Part the Second (1738)