"If we wish to know the force of human genius we should rea… - William Hazlitt

"If we wish to know the force of human genius we should read Shakespeare. If we wish to see the insignificance of human learning we may only study his commentators. ["On the Ignorance of the Learned"]"

William Hazlitt

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shakespeare shakespeare-criticism

English

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About William Hazlitt

William Hazlitt (10 April 1778 – 18 September 1830) was an English writer remembered for his humanistic essays and literary criticism. He is sometimes esteemed the greatest English literary critic after Samuel Johnson.

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Also Known As

Alternative Names: Wm. Haslett • William Carew Hazlitt

All quotes from William Hazlitt Similar Quotes by other Originators

Originators like William Hazlitt:

Michel de Montaigne Friedrich Nietzsche Samuel Johnson Ralph Waldo Emerson Arthur Schopenhauer

Additional quotes by William Hazlitt

He who comes up to his own idea of greatness, must always have had a very low standard of it in his mind.

Those only deserve a monument who do not need one; that is, who have raised themselves a monument in the minds and memories of men.

Horus non numero nisi serenas—"I count only the hours that are serene"—is the motto of a sundial near Venice. There is a softness and a harmony in the words and in the thought unparalleled.

"If we wish to know the force of human genius we should read Shakespeare. If we wish to see the insignificance of human learning we may only study hi… - William Hazlitt

About William Hazlitt

Also Known As

Additional quotes by William Hazlitt