Where Angels Fear to Tread is a novel by E. M. Forster. The title comes from a line in Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism: "e;For fools rush in where angels fear to tread"e;. The BBC adapted the novel for television in 1966 as a Play of the Month. It was apparently Alexander Pope who coined that phrase, while writing a piece of literary criticism. "e;Fools rush in where angels fear to tread?"e; Well, the phrase may apply to cautious writers, but it does not apply to angels in scripture, or to angels in our tradition.