For me, literature is a complex game, both mental and concrete, which is acted out in a physical manner on read more

For me, literature is a complex game, both mental and concrete, which is acted out in a physical manner on the page.rn

There is first the literature of knowledge, and secondly, the
literature of power. The function of the first is--to read more

There is first the literature of knowledge, and secondly, the
literature of power. The function of the first is--to teach; the
function of the second is--to move, the first is a rudder, the
second an oar or a sail. The first speaks to the mere discursive
understanding; the second speaks ultimately, it may happen, to
the higher understanding or reason, but always through affections
of pleasure and sympathy.
- Thomas De Quincey ("The Opium Eater"),

All literature is political.

All literature is political.

The schoolmaster is abroad! And I trust to him armed with his primer against the soldier in full military array.

The schoolmaster is abroad! And I trust to him armed with his primer against the soldier in full military array.

A poet is someone who is astonished by everything.

A poet is someone who is astonished by everything.

Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a read more

Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill.

All that non-fiction can do is answer questions. It's fiction's business to ask them.

All that non-fiction can do is answer questions. It's fiction's business to ask them.

. . . A man of the world amongst men of letters, a man of letters
amongst men of read more

. . . A man of the world amongst men of letters, a man of letters
amongst men of the world.

Vigny, more secretAs if in his tower of ivory, retired before noon."N.B.: Vigny refers to Comte de Vigny, who locked read more

Vigny, more secretAs if in his tower of ivory, retired before noon."N.B.: Vigny refers to Comte de Vigny, who locked himself in an ivory tower to work without the influences of man and desire. - Pensees d'Aout.