The dancing pair that simply sought renown,By holding out to tire each other down;The swain mistrustless of his smutted face,While read more

The dancing pair that simply sought renown,By holding out to tire each other down;The swain mistrustless of his smutted face,While secret laughter titter'd round the place;The bashful virgin's side-long looks of love,The matrons glance that would those looks reprove:These were thy charms, sweet village; sports like these,With sweet succession, taught e'en toil to please;These were thy bowers their cheerful influence shed,These were thy charms -- but all these charms are fled. - Deserted Village, The.

Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be grasped at once.

Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be grasped at once.

All literature is political.

All literature is political.

In our day the conventional element in literature is elaborately disguised by a law of copyright pretending that every work read more

In our day the conventional element in literature is elaborately disguised by a law of copyright pretending that every work of art is an invention distinctive enough to be patented.

Truth must necessarily be stranger than fiction, for fiction is the creation of the human mind and therefore congenial to read more

Truth must necessarily be stranger than fiction, for fiction is the creation of the human mind and therefore congenial to it.

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.

Five miles meandering with mazy motion, Through dale the sacred
river ran, Then reached the caverns measureless to man, read more

Five miles meandering with mazy motion, Through dale the sacred
river ran, Then reached the caverns measureless to man, And sank
the tumult to a lifeless ocean: And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard
from far Ancestral voices prophesying war!

I dare say I am compelled, unconsciously compelled, now to write volume after volume, as in past years I was read more

I dare say I am compelled, unconsciously compelled, now to write volume after volume, as in past years I was compelled to go to sea, voyage after voyage. Leaves must follow upon each other as leagues used to follow in the days gone by, on and on to the appointed end, which, being truth itself, is one -- one for all men and for all occupations.

Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.

Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.