Just as it is true that a stream cannot rise above its source, so it is true that a national read more

Just as it is true that a stream cannot rise above its source, so it is true that a national literature cannot rise above the moral level of the social conditions of the people from whom it derives its inspiration.

A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its read more

A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.

The poets did well to conjoin music and medicine, because the office of medicine is but to tune the curious read more

The poets did well to conjoin music and medicine, because the office of medicine is but to tune the curious harp of man's body.

People create stories create people; or rather stories create people create stories.

People create stories create people; or rather stories create people create stories.

Literature is news that stays news.

Literature is news that stays news.

University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.

University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.

I made a compact with myself that in my person literature should
stand by itself, of itself, and for read more

I made a compact with myself that in my person literature should
stand by itself, of itself, and for itself.

All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain
called "Huckleberry Finn."

All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain
called "Huckleberry Finn."

The advantage of a classical education is that it enables you to despise the wealth which it prevents you from read more

The advantage of a classical education is that it enables you to despise the wealth which it prevents you from achieving.