“Whatever little cunning of hand or head I took to it, or acquired in it, I have so retained as that I fully believe I could resume it to-morrow, very little the worse from long disuse.”

Expressing pride in professional skills retained over decades · Speech, London, 20 May 1865

• Art
• Memory

“It strikes me when I hear these things as if these great men looked upon the arts as a sort of dancing dogs, or Punch’s show, to be turned to for amusement when one has nothing else to do.”

Mocking the tendency to treat art as trivial entertainment · Speech, London, 8 May 1858

• Art
• Truth

“I believe no true man, with anything to tell, need have the least misgiving, either for himself or his message, before a large number of hearers.”

Encouraging writers and speakers to trust a sincere message plainly expressed · Speech, Birmingham, 6 January 1853

• Art
• Truth