An Essay on Genius: Or, The Philosophy of LiteratureLongman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1820 - 118 pages |
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Page 6
... pursuits , always be more valued than capacity . But , perhaps , rank and riches are oftener determined by the circumstance of birth , than by any extraordinary exertion , or ability . Even virtue , which is much more valuable than ...
... pursuits , always be more valued than capacity . But , perhaps , rank and riches are oftener determined by the circumstance of birth , than by any extraordinary exertion , or ability . Even virtue , which is much more valuable than ...
Page 13
... pursuit in which intellect is engaged . It is variety of knowledge which actuates all the powers of the mind , which stimulates every talent , and draws forth every perfection . It is this which furnishes the cases which illustrate ...
... pursuit in which intellect is engaged . It is variety of knowledge which actuates all the powers of the mind , which stimulates every talent , and draws forth every perfection . It is this which furnishes the cases which illustrate ...
Page 35
... pursuit will produce per- fection in another , and that those who shine in narration will shine in theory . † But a person may be able to do every little • See note Chap . XVI . + Voltaire is a respectable historian , but a very super ...
... pursuit will produce per- fection in another , and that those who shine in narration will shine in theory . † But a person may be able to do every little • See note Chap . XVI . + Voltaire is a respectable historian , but a very super ...
Page 44
... pursuits . Independently of the erroneous nature of the doctrine of innate ideas ; if one object or quality be conceived with the same ease as another , it is not to be supposed that the powers of the mind are affected by every change ...
... pursuits . Independently of the erroneous nature of the doctrine of innate ideas ; if one object or quality be conceived with the same ease as another , it is not to be supposed that the powers of the mind are affected by every change ...
Page 45
... pursuit , and succeeds in another , not less difficult , but of a different nature ; the reason of which , sup- posing opportunity equally favourable in both , can only be that his habits have been such as to produce a taste for the one ...
... pursuit , and succeeds in another , not less difficult , but of a different nature ; the reason of which , sup- posing opportunity equally favourable in both , can only be that his habits have been such as to produce a taste for the one ...
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.