The Real Character Of A Man Is

The True Test Of All The Arts Is Not Solely Whether The Production Is A True Copy Of Nature, But Whether It Answers The End Of Art, Which Is To Produce A Pleasing Effect Upon The Mind.

Poetry Operates By Raising Our Curiosity, Engaging The Mind By Degrees To Take An Interest In The Event, Keeping That Event Suspended, And Surprising At Last With An Unexpected Catastrophe. The Painter's Art Is More Confined, And Has Nothing That Corresponds With, Or Perhaps Is Equivalent To, This Power And Advantage Of Leading The Mind On, Till Attention Is Totally Engaged. What Is Done By Painting, Must Be Done At One Blow; Curiosity Has Received At Once All The Satisfaction It Can Ever Have.

You Are Never To Lose Sight Of Nature; The Instant You Do, You Are All Abroad, At The Mercy Of Every Gust Of Fashion, Without Knowing Or Seeing The Point To Which You Ought To Steer.

Excellence Is Never Granted To Man, But As The Reward Of Labour.

The Great End Of All Arts Is To Make An Impression On The Imagination And The Feeling. The Imitation Of Nature Frequently Does This. Sometimes It Fails And Something Else Succeeds.