There is something dark and wintry about the atmosphere of the later Middle Ages.

The history of the Victorian Age will never be written: we know too much about it.

It is probably always disastrous not to be a poet.

The amateur is very rare in French literature - as rare as he is common in our own.

Discretion is not the better part of biography.

The old interests of aristocracy - the romance of action, the exalted passions of chivalry and war - faded into the background, and their place was taken by the refined and intimate pursuits of peace and civilization.

But Racine's extraordinary powers as a writer become still more obvious when we consider that besides being a great poet he is also a great psychologist.