It is the Mass the matters.

Given Pounds and five years, and an ordinary man can in the ordinary course, without any undue haste or putting any pressure upon his taste, surround himself with books, all in his own language, and thence forward have at least one place in the world.

Is this true or only clever?

I am far too much in doubt about the present, far too perturbed .about the future, to be otherwise than profoundly reverential about the past.

[Milton] calls the university "A stony-hearted step-mother."

Any ordinary man can...surround himself with two thousand books...and thenceforward have at least one place in the world in which it is possible to be happy.

Poetry should be vital--either stirring our blood by its divine movements or snatching our breath by its divine perfection. To do both is supreme glory, to do either is enduring fame.