like a burr

An aphorism
should be
like a burr:
sting,
stick,
and leave
a little soreness
afterwards.

—Irving Layton, "Aphs," The Whole Bloody Bird: Obs, Aphs & Pomes (1969)

admired if not loved

Alexander Pope is not a poet one loves. But Pope lives on by quotable verse that sings and stings.