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Quote by William Hazlitt

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Table Talk: Opinions on Books, Men, and Things

This book features a series of essays that delve into the author's perspectives on books, notable individuals, and contemporary issues, offering a blend of critical analysis and personal commentary. more

Author

William Hazlitt
William Hazlitt

William Hazlitt, born on April 10, 1778, was an influential English essayist and literary critic. His works are renowned for their sharp observations and profound insights, which have had a lasting impact on 19th-century British literature. more

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“Any one may mouth out a passage with a theatrical cadence, or get upon stilts to tell his thoughts; but to write or speak with propriety and simplicity is a more difficult task. Thus it is easy to affect a pompous style, to use a word twice as big as the thing you want to express; it is not so easy to pitch upon the very word that exactly fits it.”

WantWritingMayUseBigsSpeakEasyDifficultStyleFitMouthsTasksSimplicityPassagesTheatricalProprietyPompousCadenceDifficult TasksStilts
Book:Delphi Collected Works of William Hazlitt (Illustrated)
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“To write a genuine familiar or truly English style is to write as anyone would speak in common conversation, who had a thorough command and choice of words, or who could discourse with ease, force, and perspicuity, setting aside all pedantic and oratorical flourishes.”

WritingChoicesSpeakForceCommonStyleConversationGenuineSettingFamiliarCommandSettingsEaseDiscourseThoroughPedantic
Book:Delphi Collected Works of William Hazlitt (Illustrated)
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“He who expects from a great name in politics, in philosophy, in art, equal greatness in other things, is little versed in human nature. Our strength lies in our weakness. The learned in books are ignorant of the world. He who is ignorant of books is often well acquainted with other things; for life is of the same length in the learned and unlearned; the mind cannot be idle; if it is not taken up with one thing, it attends to another through choice or necessity; and the degree of previous capacity in one class or another is a mere lottery.”

IfsWorldMindHumansWellsLittlesArtBookPhilosophyLife IsLyingChoicesNamesClassTakenOne ThingHuman NatureGreatnessEqualDegreesWeaknessCapacityMereIgnorantLengthIdleLotteryVersatility
Book:Delphi Collected Works of William Hazlitt (Illustrated)
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