The essence of the ludicrous consists in surprise,--in unexpected terms of feeling and explosions of thought,--often bringing dissimilar things together with a shock; as when some wit called Boyle, the celebrated philosopher, the father of chemistry and brother of the Earl of Cork.
Edwin Percy WhippleOf the three prerequisites of genius; the first is soul; the second is soul; and the third is soul.
Edwin Percy WhippleGod is glorified, not by our groans, but our thanksgivings; and all good thought and good action claim a natural alliance with good cheer.
Edwin Percy WhippleThe great characteristic of men of active genius is a sublime self-confidence, springing not from self-conceit, but from an intense identification of the man with his object, which lifts him altogether above the fear of danger and death, which gives to his enterprise a character of insanity to the common eye, and which communicates an almost superhuman audacity to his will.
Edwin Percy Whipple