Great literature should do some good to the reader: must quicken his perception though dull, and sharpen his discrimination though blunt, and mellow the rawness of his personal opinions.

Quote by A E Housman

Nature, not content with denying him the ability to think, has endowed him with the...

Nature, not content with denying him the ability to think, has endowed him with the...

Great literature should do some good to the reader: must quicken his perception though dull,...

Great literature should do some good to the reader: must quicken his perception though dull,...

I find Cambridge an asylum, in every sense of the word.

I find Cambridge an asylum, in every sense of the word.

Even when poetry has a meaning, as it usually has, it may be inadvisable to...

Even when poetry has a meaning, as it usually has, it may be inadvisable to...

And silence sounds no worse than cheers / After death has stopped the ears.

And silence sounds no worse than cheers / After death has stopped the ears.

Who made the world I cannot tell; 'Tis made, and here am I in hell....

Who made the world I cannot tell; 'Tis made, and here am I in hell....

The house of delusions is cheap to build but drafty to live in.

The house of delusions is cheap to build but drafty to live in.

The average man, if he meddles with criticism at all, is a conservative critic.

The average man, if he meddles with criticism at all, is a conservative critic.

The laws of God, the laws of man he may keep that will and can;...

The laws of God, the laws of man he may keep that will and can;...

Shoulder the sky, my lad, and drink your ale.

Shoulder the sky, my lad, and drink your ale.

Here dead lie we because we did not choose to live and shame the land...

Here dead lie we because we did not choose to live and shame the land...

Ale, man, ale's the stuff to drink for fellows whom it hurts to think.

Ale, man, ale's the stuff to drink for fellows whom it hurts to think.

The troubles of our proud and angry dust are from eternity, and shall not fail....

The troubles of our proud and angry dust are from eternity, and shall not fail....

And malt does more than Milton can to justify God's ways to man.

And malt does more than Milton can to justify God's ways to man.

Malt does more than Milton can to justify God's ways to man.

Malt does more than Milton can to justify God's ways to man.

Even when poetry has a meaning, as it usually has, it may be inadvisable to...

Even when poetry has a meaning, as it usually has, it may be inadvisable to...

If a line of poetry strays into my memory, my skin bristles so that the...

If a line of poetry strays into my memory, my skin bristles so that the...