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

Topics: Literature Quotes

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.

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 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....

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

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

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...

Experience has taught me, when I am shaving of a morning, to keep watch over...

Experience has taught me, when I am shaving of a morning, to keep watch over...

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.

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.

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 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;...

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,...

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.

That is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain, the happy highways...

That is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain, the happy highways...

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...

In every American there is an air of incorrigible innocence, which seems to conceal a...

In every American there is an air of incorrigible innocence, which seems to conceal a...

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...