That Rome was comparatively great and wealthy is certain.
From Goldwin Smith
The insular arrogance of the English character is a commonplace joke.
The natural barriers between England and Scotland were not sufficient to prevent the extension of the Saxon settlements and kingdoms across the border.
The novelist must ground his work in faithful study of human nature.
The materials of the novelist must be real; they must be gathered from the field of humanity by his actual observation.
The novelist must look on humanity without partiality or prejudice. His sympathy, like that of the historian, must be unbounded, and untainted by sect or party.
Dante himself is open to the suspicion of partiality: it is said, not without apparent ground, that he puts into hell all the enemies of the political cause, which, in his eyes, was that of Italy and God.
I heard Thackeray thank Heaven for the purity of Dickens. I thanked Heaven for the purity of a greater than Dickens - Thackeray himself.
There are the manufacturing multitudes of England; they must have work, and find markets for their work; if machines and the Black Country are ugly, famine would be uglier still.
Art is expression, and to have high expression you must have something high to express.
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