William Hazlitt
Table Talk
Essays on Men and Manners
Published by Good Press, 2019
EAN 4057664179418
Table of Contents
ESSAY I. ON THE PLEASURE OF PAINTING
ESSAY II. THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED
ESSAY III. ON THE PAST AND FUTURE
ESSAY IV. ON GENIUS AND COMMON SENSE
ESSAY V. THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED
ESSAY VI. CHARACTER OF COBBETT
ESSAY VII. ON PEOPLE WITH ONE IDEA
ESSAY VIII. ON THE IGNORANCE OF THE LEARNED
ESSAY X. ON LIVING TO ONE'S-SELF(1)
ESSAY XI. ON THOUGHT AND ACTION
ESSAY XIII. ON CERTAIN INCONSISTENCIES IN SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS'S DISCOURSES
ESSAY XIV. THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED
ESSAY XV. ON PARADOX AND COMMON-PLACE
ESSAY XVI. ON VULGARITY AND AFFECTATION
ESSAY I. ON A LANDSCAPE OF NICOLAS POUSSIN
ESSAY IV. ON COFFEE-HOUSE POLITICIANS
ESSAY V. ON THE ARISTOCRACY OF LETTERS
ESSAY VII. ON GREAT AND LITTLE THINGS
ESSAY IX. ON EFFEMINACY OF CHARACTER
ESSAY X. WHY DISTANT OBJECTS PLEASE
ESSAY XII. WHETHER ACTORS OUGHT TO SIT IN THE BOXES?
ESSAY XIII. ON THE DISADVANTAGES OF INTELLECTUAL SUPERIORITY
ESSAY XIV. ON PATRONAGE AND PUFFING
ESSAY XV. ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHARACTER
ESSAY XVI. ON THE PICTURESQUE AND IDEAL
ESSAY XVII. ON THE FEAR OF DEATH
VOLUME I
ESSAY I. ON THE PLEASURE OF PAINTING
'There is a pleasure in painting which none but painters know.' In writing, you have to contend with the world; in painting, you have only to carry on a friendly strife with Nature. You sit down to your task, and are happy. From the moment that you take up the pencil, and look Nature in the face, you are at peace with your own heart. No angry passions rise to disturb the silent progress of the work, to shake the hand, or dim the brow: no irritable humours are set afloat: you have no absurd opinions to combat, no point to strain, no adversary to crush, no fool to annoy—you are actuated by fear or favour to no man. There is 'no juggling here,' no sophistry, no intrigue, no tampering with the evidence, no attempt to make black white, or white black: but you resign yourself into the hands of a greater power, that of Nature, with the simplicity of a child, and the devotion of an enthusiast—'study with joy her manner, and with rapture taste her style.' The mind is calm, and full at the same time. The hand and eye are equally employed. In tracing the commonest object, a plant or the stump of a tree, you learn something every moment. You perceive unexpected differences, and discover likenesses where you looked for no such thing. You try to set down what you see—find out your error, and correct it. You need not play tricks, or purposely mistake: with all your pains, you are still far short of the mark. Patience grows out of the endless pursuit, and turns it into a luxury. A streak in a flower, a wrinkle in a leaf, a tinge in a cloud, a stain in an old wall or ruin grey, are seized with avidity as the spolia opima of this sort of mental warfare, and furnish out labour for another half-day.