William Hazlitt Quotes
By conversing with the mighty dead, we imbibe sentiment with knowledge. We become strongly attached to those who can no longer either hurt or serve us, except through the influence which they exert over the mind. We feel the presence of that power which gives immortality to human thoughts and actions, and catch the flame of enthusiasm from all nations and ages.
Hazlitt, William. The Round Table: A Collection of Essays on Literature, Men, and Manners. Vol. 1, Archibald Constable and Co., 1817, p. 11.
By 1870 there were over 1000 schools in the South that had been founded and operated by the Freedmen’s Bureau. Despite the racist, negative stereotypes of Negroes, many of them were just the opposite from the stereotype as this quotation demonstrates.
William Hazlitt was an English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English language, placed in the company of Samuel Johnson and George Orwell. He is also acknowledged as the finest art critic of his age. Despite his high standing among historians of literature and art, his work is currently little read and mostly out of print.
