Critics, like the rest of mankind, are very frequently misled by interest.

Nothing is more common than mutual dislike, where mutual approbation is particularly expected.

Terrestrial happiness is of short duration. The brightness of the flame is wasting its fuel; the fragrant flower is passing away in its own odors.

Sorrow is a kind of rust of the soul, which every new idea contributes in its passage to scour away. It is the putrefaction of stagnant life, and is remedied by exercise and motion.

One of the most pernicious effects of haste is obscurity.

The business of a poet is to examine not the individual but the species; to remark general properties and large appearances.

An epithet or metaphor drawn from nature ennobles art; an epithet or metaphor drawn from art degrades nature.