“Genius is shown only by invention.”

Defining genius through creative originality rather than mere competence · Idler No. 40

• Art

“The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope.”

Presenting hope, rather than pleasure itself, as the mind's habitual destination · Rambler No. 2

• Hope
• Joy

“I resign him to critical justice, without making any other demand in his favour, than that which must be indulged to all human excellence; that his virtues be rated with his failings.”

Calling for criticism that weighs strengths and faults together · Preface to Shakespeare

• Art
• Truth