On the Art of Writing: Lectures Delivered in the University of Cambridge, 1913-1914 (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from On the Art of Writing: Lecture Delivered in the University of Cambridge, 1913-1914In all the long quarrel set between philosophy and poetry I know of nothing finer, as of nothing more pathetically hopeless, than Plato's return upon himself in his last dialogue The Laws.' There are who find that dialogue (left unrevised) insufferably dull, as no doubt it is without form and garrulous. Buti think they will read it with a new tolerance, may-be even with a touch of feeling, if upon second thoughts they recognise in its twistings and turn ings, its prolixities and repetitions, the scruples of an old man who, knowing that his time in this world is short, would not go out of it pretending to know more than he does, and even in matters concerning which he was once very sure has come to divine that, after all, as Renan says, 'la Verite consiste dans les nuances.' Certainly 'the soul's dark cottage battered and decayed' does in that last dialogue admit some wonderful flashes.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.