An Essay on Genius: Or, The Philosophy of LiteratureLongman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1820 - 118 pages |
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Page 2
... distinct substances , if such a thing as substance exists . + Both reasons are given for the intellectual deficiency of brutes . An ox is said to be too dull to receive impressions ; a dog , too vivacious to attend to them . more ...
... distinct substances , if such a thing as substance exists . + Both reasons are given for the intellectual deficiency of brutes . An ox is said to be too dull to receive impressions ; a dog , too vivacious to attend to them . more ...
Page 3
... distinct , and capable of carrying his ideas farther than another . We may , therefore , safely admit two species of ability , the natural , and the acquired . This original difference of talent does not , however , seem great . In ...
... distinct , and capable of carrying his ideas farther than another . We may , therefore , safely admit two species of ability , the natural , and the acquired . This original difference of talent does not , however , seem great . In ...
Page 6
... of politicians , but falsehood , and dishonesty ! † Pope says- " an honest man is the noblest work of God . " This has a fine sound , but nothing more . praise . Human greatness is always distinct from external circumstances 6.
... of politicians , but falsehood , and dishonesty ! † Pope says- " an honest man is the noblest work of God . " This has a fine sound , but nothing more . praise . Human greatness is always distinct from external circumstances 6.
Page 7
... distinct from external circumstances , and can neither be acquired nor lost by the concurrence of things . In the same class of error , may be included reputation derived from inflated sentiment , such as the saying of Alexan- der that ...
... distinct from external circumstances , and can neither be acquired nor lost by the concurrence of things . In the same class of error , may be included reputation derived from inflated sentiment , such as the saying of Alexan- der that ...
Page 19
... distinct experiments . It is , indeed , obvious that experiment , notwithstanding all that has been said in its favour , can never supply the place of intellect ; that it is only an instrument subordinate to sagacity , and useful as it ...
... distinct experiments . It is , indeed , obvious that experiment , notwithstanding all that has been said in its favour , can never supply the place of intellect ; that it is only an instrument subordinate to sagacity , and useful as it ...
Common terms and phrases
ability abstract acquired acquisition acuteness appear application arise Aristotle arrangement attainment attention beauty capable capacity cation causes circumstances combination comprehension connection considered consists degree Demosthenes depends Descartes difficulty discover displays distinct distinguished duction Dunciad effect effort elegance endeavour equal excellence execution exertion extensive facts faculties fancy former genius greater greatest habit Hence Homer Hudibras human ideas Iliad imagination individual inferior intel intellectual irregular ject judgment knowledge labour latter Letters of Junius Longinus lyric poetry mankind manner memory ment mental merely merit mode moral nature neral never objects or qualities original Paradise Lost particular passions peculiar perceive perfection performance perhaps person philosopher poet poetry Pope possess powers principles produce pursuit racter rank reason recollection reflection relation remark rendered seems Shakespeare shew simile sion species strength of mind style sublimity superior talents taste things thinking thought tion tural tween understanding variety vigour Voltaire
Popular passages
Page 79 - Which the five watchful Senses represent, She forms Imaginations, Aery shapes, Which Reason joining or disjoining, frames All what we affirm or what deny, and call Our knowledge or opinion; then retires Into her private Cell when Nature rests.
Page 13 - ... to dive into the depths of dungeons, to plunge into the infection of hospitals, to survey the mansions of sorrow and pain, to take the gauge and dimensions of misery, depression, and contempt ; to remember the forgotten, to attend to the neglected, to visit the forsaken, and to compare and collate the distresses of all men in all countries.
Page 13 - His plan is original ; and it is as full of genius as it is of humanity. It was a voyage of discovery, a circumnavigation of charity. Already the benefit of his labour is felt more or less in every country ; I hope he will anticipate his final reward by seeing all its effects fully realized in his own. He will receive, not by retail, but in gross, the reward of those who visit the prisoner ; and he has so forestalled and monopolized this branch of charity, that there will be, I trust, little room...
Page 16 - Full many a gem of purest ray serene The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear : Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air. Some village- Hampden, that, with dauntless breast, The little tyrant of his fields withstood, Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest, Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood. Th...
Page 85 - Thus in the soul while memory prevails, The solid power of understanding fails ; Where beams of warm imagination play, The memory's soft figures melt away.
Page 13 - I cannot name this gentleman without remarking that his labours and writings have done much to open the eyes and hearts of mankind. He has visited all Europe ; — not to survey the sumptuousness of palaces, or the stateliness of temples ; not to make accurate measurements of the remains of ancient grandeur, nor to form a scale of the curiosity of modern art ; not to collect medals, or collate manuscripts, but to dive into the depths of dungeons; to plunge into the...
Page 13 - ... and to compare . and collate the distresses of all men, in all countries. His plan is original, and it is as full of genius, as it is of humanity. It is a voyage of discovery, a circumnavigation of charity ; and already the benefit of his labour is felt more or less in every country.
Page 9 - O'er the wide main extends his boundless eye ; Through such a space of air, with thundering sound, At every leap the immortal coursers bound : Troy now they reach'd and touch'd those banks divine, Where silver Simois and Scamander join.
Page 63 - One science only will one genius fit ; So vast is art, so narrow human wit : Not only bounded to peculiar arts, But oft in those confin'd to single parts.
Page 46 - ... one of the fathers took it into his head to make an essay of his parts in geometry, which, it seems, hit his genius so luckily, that he afterwards became one of the greatest mathematicians of the age.