English - Critic | March 1, 1880 - January 21, 1932
The genius of the French language, descended from its single Latin stock, has triumphed most in the contrary direction - in simplicity, in unity, in clarity, and in restraint.
Lytton Strachey
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The amateur is very rare in French literature - as rare as he is common in our own.
LiteratureRareOwnCommonHeOur
Modern as the style of Pascal's writing is, his thought is deeply impregnated with the spirit of the Middle Ages. He belonged, almost equally, to the future and to the past.
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In sheer genius Pascal ranks among the very greatest writers who have lived upon this earth. And his genius was not simply artistic; it displayed itself no less in his character and in the quality of his thought.
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In pure literature, the writers of the eighteenth century achieved, indeed, many triumphs; but their great, their peculiar, triumphs were in the domain of thought.
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How far the existence of the Academy has influenced French literature, either for good or for evil, is an extremely dubious question.
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Englishmen have always loved Moliere.
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During this earlier period of his activity Voltaire seems to have been trying - half unconsciously, perhaps - to discover and to express the fundamental quality of his genius.
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But Racine's extraordinary powers as a writer become still more obvious when we consider that besides being a great poet he is also a great psychologist.
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The history of the Victorian Age will never be written: we know too much about it.
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