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.

Perhaps the best test of a man's intelligence is his capacity for making a summary.

English dramatic literature is, of course, dominated by Shakespeare; and it is almost inevitable that an English reader should measure the value of other poetic drama by the standards which Shakespeare has already implanted in his mind.

It is probably always disastrous not to be a poet.

Ignorance is the first requisite of the historian - ignorance, which simplifies and clarifies, which selects and omits, with a placid perfection unattainable by the highest art.

It is perhaps as difficult to write a good life as to live one.

With a very few exceptions, every word in the French vocabulary comes straight from the Latin.