Canadian - Historian | August 13, 1823 - June 7, 1910
I heard Thackeray thank Heaven for the purity of Dickens. I thanked Heaven for the purity of a greater than Dickens - Thackeray himself.
Goldwin Smith
HeavenPurityGreaterThanHimself
Art is expression, and to have high expression you must have something high to express.
ArtYouHighExpressionSomething
As to London we must console ourselves with the thought that if life outside is less poetic than it was in the days of old, inwardly its poetry is much deeper.
LifePoetryThoughtLondonOutside
Yet for my part, deeply as I am moved by the religious architecture of the Middle Ages, I cannot honestly say that I ever felt the slightest emotion in any modern Gothic church.
ArchitectureI AmChurchSayEmotion
But if anyone supposes that there was no commercial fraud in the Middle Ages, let him study the commercial legislation of England for that period, and his mind will be satisfied, if he has a mind to be satisfied and not only a fancy to run away with him.
MindRunWillFraudStudyHim
Whatever things may have been in their origin, they are what they are, both in themselves and in regard to their indications respecting other beings or influences the existence of which may be implied in theirs.
ExistenceWhateverThingsMayOrigin
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.
SympathyHumanityLookPartyWithout
Who can doubt that between the English and the French, between the Scotch and the Irish, there are differences of character which have profoundly affected and still affect the course of history?
CharacterHistoryDoubtDifferences
No student of history can fail to see the moral interest of the Middle Ages, any more than an artist can fail to see their aesthetic interest.
HistoryAestheticArtistStudentSee
The Romans, we are told, were by nature a peculiarly warlike race.
NatureRaceRomansWereWarlike
The natural barriers between England and Scotland were not sufficient to prevent the extension of the Saxon settlements and kingdoms across the border.
BorderBarriersNaturalScotland
The insular arrogance of the English character is a commonplace joke.
CharacterArroganceJokeEnglish
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