To think, and to feel, constitute the two grand divisions of men of genius-the men of reasoning and the men of imagination. Isaac D'Israeli More Quotes by Isaac D'Israeli More Quotes From Isaac D'Israeli A work, however, should be judged by its design and its execution, and not by any preconceived notion of what it ought to be according to the critic, rather than the author. Isaac D'Israeli executiondesignshould Those who never quote, in return are never quoted. Isaac D'Israeli return The great man who thinks greatly of himself, is not diminishing that greatness in heaping fuel on his fire. Isaac D'Israeli greatnessmenthinking The ancients, who in these matters were not perhaps such blockheads as some may conceive, considered poetical quotation as one of the requisite ornaments of oratory. Isaac D'Israeli oratoryornamentsmay Proverbs were bright shafts in the Greek and Latin quivers. Isaac D'Israeli quivergreeklatin An excessive indulgence in the pleasures of social life constitutes the great interests of a luxuriant and opulent age. Isaac D'Israeli luxurypleasureage Every work of Genius is tinctured by the feelings, and often originates in the events of times. Isaac D'Israeli eventsgeniusfeelings Quotations, like much better things, has its abuses. Isaac D'Israeli quotationsabuse If the golden gate of preferment is not usually opened to men of real merit, persons of no worth have entered it in a most extraordinary manner. Isaac D'Israeli goldenrealmen Solitude is the nurse of enthusiasm, enthusiasm is the true part of genius. Isaac D'Israeli geniussolitudenurse The act of contemplation then creates the thing created. Isaac D'Israeli contemplativecontemplative-lifecontemplation Philosophy becomes poetry, and science imagination, in the enthusiasm of genius. Isaac D'Israeli imaginationphilosophyscience Enthusiasm is that secret and harmonious spirit which hovers over the production of genius. Isaac D'Israeli secretmotivationallife A well-read writer, with good taste, is one who has the command of the wit of other men; he searches where knowledge is to be found; and though he may not himself excel in invention, his ingenuity may compose one of those agreeable books, the deliciæ of literature, that will out-last the fading meteors of his day. Isaac D'Israeli fadingmenbook The art of quotation requires more delicacy in the practice than those conceive who can see nothing more in a quotation than an extract. Whenever the mind of a writer is saturated with the full inspiration of a great author, a quotation gives completeness to the whole; it seals his feelings with undisputed authority. Isaac D'Israeli inspirationpracticeart Great collections of books are subject to certain accidents besides the damp, the worms, and the rats; one not less common is that of the borrowers, not to say a word of the purloiners Isaac D'Israeli ratscommonbook It does not at first appear that an astronomer rapt in abstraction, while he gazes on a star, must feel more exquisite delight than a farmer who is conducting his team. Isaac D'Israeli atheismteamstars Centuries have not worm-eaten the solidity of this ancient furniture of the mind. Isaac D'Israeli furnitureancientmind The most noble criticism is that in which the critic is not the antagonist so much as the rival of the author. Isaac D'Israeli rivalsnoblecriticism Many men of genius must arise before a particular man of genius can appear. Isaac D'Israeli arisegeniusmen
