Rough diamonds may sometimes be mistaken for worthless pebbles.

In the eighteenth century Samuel Johnson who shared Browne's love of the Latinate wrote a brief Life in which he praised Browne as a faithful Christian but gave a mixed reception to his prose:

In the nineteenth century Browne's reputation was revived by the Romantics. The German author W. The other discourse in the unique literary diptych and antithetical in style subject-matter and imagery is The Garden of Cyrus or The Quincunciall Lozenge or Network Plantations of the Ancients Artificially Naturally and Mystically Considered whose subject is the quincunx the arrangement of five units like the five-spot in dice which Browne used to demonstrate that evidence of the Platonic forms and intelligent design exist throughout Nature.

Browne's writings display a deep curiosity towards the natural world influenced by the scientific revolution of Baconian enquiry while his Christian faith exuded tolerance and goodwill towards humanity in an often intolerant era. His literary style varies according to genre resulting in a rich unusual prose that ranges from rough notebook observations to the highest baroque eloquence.