Philip Guedalla
Philip Guedalla
Philip Guedallawas a British barrister, and a popular historical and travel writer and biographer. His wit and epigrams are well-known, one example being "Even reviewers read a Preface," another being "History repeats itself. Historians repeat each other." He also was the originator of a now-common theory on Henry James, writing that "The work of Henry James has always seemed divisible by a simple dynastic arrangement into three reigns: James I, James II, and the Old Pretender"...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionHistorian
Date of Birth12 March 1889
An Englishman is a man who lives on and island in the North Sea governed by Scotsmen
Any stigma will do to beat a dogma.
I had always imagined that ClichT was a suburb of Paris, until I discovered it to be a street in Oxford.
The cheerful clatter of Sir James Barrie's cans as he went round with the milk of human kindness.
History repeats itself. Historians repeat each other.
People who jump to conclusions rarely alight on them.
Biography is a very definite region bounded on the north by history, on the south by fiction, on the east by obituary, and on the west by tedium.
Autobiography is an unrivaled vehicle for telling the truth about other people.
The work of Henry James has always seemed divisible by a simple dynastic arrangement into three reigns: James I, James II, and the Old Pretender
Any stigma, as the old saying is, will serve to beat a dogma.
Biography, like big game hunting, is one of the recognized forms of sport, and it is as unfair as only sport can be.
Success is little more than a chemical compound of man with moment.
Greatness is so often a courteous synonym for great success.
I had always imagined that Cliché was a suburb of Paris, until I discovered it to be a street in Oxford.