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Quote by William Hazlitt

“The present is an age of talkers, and not of doers; and the reason is, that the world is growing old. We are so far advanced in the Arts and Sciences, that we live in retrospect, and dote on past achievement.”

Quote by William Hazlitt

Author

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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“Humour is the making others act or talk absurdly and unconsciously; wit is the pointing out and ridiculing that absurdity consciously, and with more or less ill-nature.”

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Book:Delphi Collected Works of William Hazlitt (Illustrated)

Source: Delphi Collected Works of William Hazlitt (Illustrated)

“Humour is the describing the ludicrous as it is in itself; wit is the exposing it, by comparing or contrasting it with something else. Humour is, as it were, the growth of nature and accident; wit is the product of art and fancy.”

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Book:Lectures on the English Comic Writers

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“Tears may be considered as the natural and involuntary resource of the mind overcome by some sudden and violent emotion, before ithas had time to reconcile its feelings to the change in circumstances: while laughter may be defined to be the same sort of convulsive and involuntary movement, occasioned by mere sur prise or contrast (in the absence of any more serious emotion), before it has time to reconcile its belief to contradictory appearances.”

Source: Lectures on the English Comic Writers

“It is not the passion of a mind struggling with misfortune, or the hopelessness of its desires, but of a mind preying on itself, and disgusted with, or indifferent to all other things.”

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Book:Delphi Collected Works of William Hazlitt (Illustrated)

Source: Delphi Collected Works of William Hazlitt (Illustrated)

“The Irish are hearty, the Scotch plausible, the French polite, the Germans good-natured, the Italians courtly, the Spaniards reserved and decorous - the English alone seem to exist in taking and giving offense.”

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Book:Miscellaneous writings

Source: Miscellaneous writings

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Source: The Fables of La Fontaine

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“O troubled forms, O early love unfortunate and hard, Time has estranged you into a jewel cold and pure”

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Book:Collected Poems

Source: Collected Poems