“The importance of the romantic element does not rest upon conjecture. Pleasing testimonies abound. Hannah More traced her earliest impressions of virtue to works of fiction; and Adam Clarke gives a list of tales that won his boyish admiration. Books of entertainment led him to believe in a spiritual world; and he felt sure of having been a coward, but for romances. He declared that he had learned more of his duty to God, his neighbor and himself from Robinson Crusoe than from all the books, except the Bible, that were known to his youth.” WorldGivingBelieveDoeBookSpiritualRomanceFeltFictionKnownVirtueYouthDutyElementsImportanceEntertainmentNeighborListsImpressionTalesAdmirationCowardAdamTestimonyConjectureBoyishRobinson CrusoeDuty To God Book:Pleasures of Literature Source: Pleasures of Literature
“A book becomes a mirror, with the author's face shining over it. Talent only gives an imperfect image,--the broken glimmer of a countenance. But the features of genius remain unruffled. Time guards the shadow. Beauty, the spiritual, Venus,--whose children are the Tassos, the Spensers, the Bacons,--breathes, the magic of her love, and fixes the face forever.” GivingChildrenBookFacesSpiritualForeverMagicTalentBrokenGeniusShadowMirrorsShiningBreatheFeaturesOver ItImperfectCountenanceVenusSpenser Author:Robert Aris Willmott
“Of many large volumes the index is the best portion and the usefullest. A glance through the casement gives whatever knowledge of the interior is needful. An epitome is only a book shortened; and as a general rule, the worth increases as the size lessens.” GivingBookIncreaseSizePortionsVolumeGlancesInteriorsEpitome Book:Pleasures, Objects, and Advantages of Literature Source: Pleasures, Objects, and Advantages of Literature
“Criticism must never be sharpened into anatomy. The delicate veins of fancy may be traced, and the rich blood that gives bloom and health to the complexion of thought be resolved into its elements. Stop there. The life of the imagination, as of the body, disappears when we pursue it.” GivingMayBodyImaginationRichBloodElementsCriticismDisappearPursueFancyDelicateVeinsAnatomyComplexion Book:Pleasures of Literature Source: Pleasures of Literature
“Whatever is pure is also simple. It does not keep the eye on itself. The observer forgets the window in the landscape it displays. A fine style gives the view of fancy--its figures, its trees, or its palaces,--without a spot.” GivingDoeEyeSimpleForgetViewsTreeStyleFiguresFinePureWindowSpotsLandscapeFancyDisplayObserversPalaces Book:Pleasures,objects and advantages of literature Source: Pleasures,objects and advantages of literature