William Hazlitt
William Hazlitt
William Hazlittwas an English writer, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English language, placed in the company of Samuel Johnson and George Orwell. He is also acknowledged as the finest art critic of his age. Despite his high standing among historians of literature and art, his work is currently little read and mostly out of print...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionCritic
Date of Birth10 April 1778
book reading mind
The book-worm wraps himself up in his web of verbal generalities, and sees only the glimmering shadows of things reflected from the minds of others.
pain giving bears
A life of action and danger moderates the dread of death. It not only gives us fortitude to bear pain, but teaches us at every step the precarious tenure on which we hold our present being.
kindness wish favors
Our friends are generally ready to do everything for us, except the very thing we wish them to do.
book reading benefits
A felon could plead "benefit of clergy" and be saved by [reading aloud] what was aptly enough termed the "neck verse", which was very usually the Miserere mei of Psalm 51.
honesty people office
The confession of our failings is a thankless office. It savors less of sincerity or modesty than of ostentation. It seems as if we thought our weaknesses as good as other people's virtues.
inspirational value-of-time misers
As we advance in life, we acquire a keener sense of the value of time. Nothing else, indeed, seems of any consequence; and we become misers in this respect.
sports art anchors
Art must anchor in nature, or it is the sport of every breath of folly.
thinking names london
I do not think there is anything deserving the name of society to be found out of London.
mind body exposure
There is an unseemly exposure of the mind, as well as of the body.
inspirational dull cold
We are cold to others only when we are dull in ourselves.
moving men way
A man who is determined never to move out of the beaten road cannot lose his way.
conversation vivacity equal
A person who talks with equal vivacity on every subject, excites no interest in any. Repose is as necessary in conversation as in a picture.
believe media years
Belief is with them mechanical, voluntary: they believe what they are paid for - they swear to that which turns to account. Do you suppose, that after years spent in this manner, they have any feeling left answering to the difference between truth and falsehood?
men reason certain
Men are in numberless instances qualified for certain things, for no other reason than because they are qualified for nothing else.