Literary Birthday – 10 April – William Hazlitt

William Hazlitt was born 10 April 1778, and died 18 September 1830.

10 William Hazlitt Quotes

1. The art of conversation is the art of hearing as well as of being heard.
2. Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own.
3. We are never so much disposed to quarrel with others as when we are dissatisfied with ourselves.
4. Poetry is all that is worth remembering in life.
5. I’m not smart, but I like to observe. Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why.
6. A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles.
7. Prejudice is the child of ignorance.
8. Poetry is only the highest eloquence of passion, the most vivid form of expression that can be given to our conception of anything, whether pleasurable or painful, mean or dignified, delightful or distressing. It is the perfect coincidence of the image and the words with the feeling we have, and of which we cannot get rid in any other way, that gives an instant “satisfaction to the thought.” This is equally the origin of wit and fancy, of comedy and tragedy, of the sublime and pathetic.
9. The only impeccable writers are those who never wrote.
10. If I have not read a book before, it is, for all intents and purposes, new to me whether it was printed yesterday or three hundred years ago.

William Hazlitt was an English writer. He was the greatest art critic of his age, as well as a drama critic, social commentator, philosopher, and a painter. He is considered one of the great critics and essayists of the English language, placed in the company of Samuel Johnson and George Orwell. His fiends included Charles and Mary Lamb, Stendhal, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and William Wordsworth. He is the author of On The Pleasure of Hating.

Source for Image

 by Amanda Patterson

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