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During this earlier period of his activity Voltaire seems to have been trying - half unconsciously, perhaps - to discover and to express the fundamental quality of his genius.

Lytton Strachey

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Lytton Strachey
Age: 52 †
Born: 1880
Born: January 1
Died: 1932
Died: January 1
Biographer
Literary Critic
Painter
Poet
Writer
London
England
Giles Lytton Strachey
Seems
Express
Trying
Period
Periods
Voltaire
Activity
Unconsciously
Genius
Earlier
Perhaps
Fundamental
Quality
Fundamentals
Half
Discover

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Discretion is not the better part of biography.
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English dramatic literature is, of course, dominated by Shakespeare and it is almost inevitable that an English reader should measure the value of other poetic drama by the standards which Shakespeare has already implanted in his mind.
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Englishmen have always loved Moliere.
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The genius of the French language, descended from its single Latin stock, has triumphed most in the contrary direction - in simplicity, in unity, in clarity, and in restraint.
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With a very few exceptions, every word in the French vocabulary comes straight from the Latin.
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Perhaps of all the creations of man language is the most astonishing.
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There is something dark and wintry about the atmosphere of the later Middle Ages.
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The stability and peace which seemed to be so firmly established by the brilliant monarchy of Francis I vanished with the terrible outbreak of the Wars of Religion.
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Though, with the ascendancy of Louis, the political power of the nobles finally came to an end, France remained, in the whole complexion of her social life, completely aristocratic.
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Ignorance is the first requisite of the historian - ignorance, which simplifies and clarifies, which selects and omits, with a placid perfection unattainable by the highest art.
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It is probably always disastrous not to be a poet.
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But Racine's extraordinary powers as a writer become still more obvious when we consider that besides being a great poet he is also a great psychologist.
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The history of the Victorian Age will never be written: we know too much about it.
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