The only writer of the pre-revolutionary period who can be read today
with any pleasure--and this, perhaps, is because he does not attempt
anything--is Chamfort. His characters and anecdotes are sufficiently
highly flavoured to defy the action of time.
THE ROMANTICISTS
_Goethe_
If a militia of genius should be formed on Parnassus, Goethe would be
the drum-major. He is so great, so majestic, so serene, so full of
talent, so abounding in virtue, and yet, so antipathetic!
_Chateaubriand_
A skin of Lacrymae Christi that has turned sour. At times the good
Viscount drops molasses into the skin to take away the taste of vinegar;
at other times, he drops in more vinegar to take away the sweet taste of
the molasses. He is both moth-eaten and sublime.
_Victor Hugo_
Victor Hugo, the most talented of rhetoricians! Victor Hugo, the most
exquisite of vulgarians! Victor Hugo--mere common sense dressed up as
art.
_Stendhal_
The inventor of a psychological automaton moved by clock work.
_Balzac_
A nightmare, a dream produced by indigestion, a chill, rare acuteness,
equal obtuseness, a delirium of splendours, cheap hardware, of pretence
and bad taste. Because of his ugliness, because of his genius, because
of his immorality, the Danton of printers' ink.
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