“No amount of classical learning can create a true appreciation of literature in those who lack the organs of appreciation.”

Arguing that scholarship alone cannot manufacture literary sensitivity · Introductory Lecture, University College London, 1892

• Instinct
• Learning
• Literature

“Even when poetry has a meaning, as it usually has, it may be inadvisable to draw it out.”

Warning that analysis can sometimes diminish poetic experience · Lecture, The Name and Nature of Poetry, 1933

• Criticism
• Poetry
• Understanding

“The reader often shares the writer's prejudices, and is far too well pleased with his conclusions to examine either his premises or his reasoning.”

A sharp description of how agreement can suppress critical scrutiny · Lecture, The Application of Thought to Textual Criticism, 1921

• Criticism
• Reason
• Understanding