When Shakespeare copied chroniclers verbatim, it was because he knew they were good enough for his audiences. In a more polished age he who could so move our passions, could surely have performed the easier task of satisfying our taste.

The curse of modern times is, that almost everything does create controversy.

In science, mistakes always precede the truth

Without grace no book can live, and with it the poorest may have its life prolonged.

Life is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel.

Shakespeare, with an improved education and in a more enlightened age, might easily have attained the purity and correction of Racine; but nothing leads one to suppose that Racine in a barbarous age would have attained the grandeur, force and nature of Shakespeare.

When people will not weed their own minds, they are apt to be overrun by nettles.