William Hazlitt
William Hazlitt was born on 10 April 1778 in Maidstone, a British subject who would go on to work across an unusually wide range of disciplines. A citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, he wrote in English throughout his career, taking on the roles of essayist, philosopher, painter, critic, journalist, literary historian, literary critic, drama critic, social commentator, and translator at various points in his life.
His output included several notable works. Characters of Shakespear's Plays drew on his abilities as a literary and drama critic, while Table-Talk represented his work as an essayist. The Spirit of the Age stands as another significant title from his career, one that brought together his roles as social commentator and literary historian. These three works give some sense of the breadth of activity he sustained across his writing life, moving between criticism, essay, and commentary in the English language.
Hazlitt died on 18 September 1830 in London. He was fifty-two years old at the time of his death.
Quotes by William Hazlitt
William Hazlitt's insights on:
The insolence of the vulgar is in proportion to their ignorance. They treat everything with contempt which they do not understand.
Cunning is natural to mankind. It is the sense of our weakness, and an attempt to effect by concealment what we cannot do openly and by force.
First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not unfrequently) to our cost when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible professions or actions. A man's look is the work of years, it is stamped on his countenance by the events of his whole life, nay, more, by the hand of nature, and it is not to be got rid of easily.
Everyone in a crowd has the power to throw dirt: nine out of ten have the inclination.
The humblest painter is a true scholar, and the best of scholars is the scholar of nature.
A scholar is like a book written in a dead language. It is not everyone that can read in it.
Conceit is the most contemptible and one of the most odious qualities in the world. It is vanity driven from all other shifts, and forced to appeal to itself for admiration.
Let a man's talents or virtues be what they may, he will only feel satisfaction as he is satisfied in himself.