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"),
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Literature for me isn't a workaday job, but something which involves desires, dreams and fantasy.
Literature for me isn't a workaday job, but something which involves desires, dreams and fantasy.
Writing is not a profession but a vocation of unhappiness.
Writing is not a profession but a vocation of unhappiness.
Literature is the immortality of speech.
Literature is the immortality of speech.
Woe to him who teaches men faster than they can learn.
Woe to him who teaches men faster than they can learn.
Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater.
Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater.
Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of a man -- the biography of the man himself cannot be written.
Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of a man -- the biography of the man himself cannot be written.
I hold it true,what'er befall;I feel it, when I sorrow most;'Tis better to have loved and lostThan never to have read more
I hold it true,what'er befall;I feel it, when I sorrow most;'Tis better to have loved and lostThan never to have loved at all. - In Memoriam.
Literature was formerly an art and finance a trade; today it is the reverse.
Literature was formerly an art and finance a trade; today it is the reverse.
There is the view that poetry should improve your life. I think people confuse it with the Salvation Army.
There is the view that poetry should improve your life. I think people confuse it with the Salvation Army.
