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A. E. Housman

A. E. Housman Quotes

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Famous A. E. Housman Quotes

“Poems very seldom consist of poetry and nothing else; and pleasure can be derived also from their other ingredients. I am convinced that most readers, when they think they are admiring poetry, are deceived by inability to analyse their sensations, and that they are really admiring, not the poetry of the passage before them, but something else in it, which they like better than poetry.”

ThinkingArtPoetryPleasureReaderConvincedSensationsIngredientsPassagesInabilityDeceivedAdmiring
Book:Delphi Complete Works of A. E. Housman (Illustrated)
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“Why, if 'tis dancing you would be, There's brisker pipes than poetry. Say, for what were hop-yards meant, Or why was Burton built on Trent? Oh many a peer of England brews Livelier liquor than the Muse, And malt does more than Milton can To justify God's ways to man. Ale, man, ale's the stuff to drink For fellows whom it hurts to think: Look into the pewter pot To see the world as the world's not.”

IfsThinkingMenWorldWayLooksDoeWould BeStuffHurtDrinkBuiltEnglandFellowsDancingDrinkingHopsJustifyPotPeersMuseYardsIt HurtsPipeLiquorMiltonAleMaltPewter
Author:A. E. Housman
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“To be a textual critic requires aptitude for thinking and willingness to think; and though it also requires other things, those things are supplements and cannot be substitutes. Knowledge is good, method is good, but one thing beyond all others is necessary; and that is to have a head, not a pumpkin, on your shoulders and brains, not pudding, in your head.”

ThinkingBrainOne ThingMethodCriticsShouldersWillingnessSubstitutesSupplementsPumpkinAptitudePudding
Author:A. E. Housman
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