Genius is present in every age, but the men carrying it within them remain benumbed unless extraordinary events occur to heat up and melt the mass so that it flows forth. On Dramatic Poetry (1758)
It is not human nature we should accuse but the despicable conventions that pervert it. On Dramatic Poetry (1758)
The pit of a theatre is the one place where the tears of virtuous and wicked men alike are mingled. On Dramatic Poetry (1758)
Shakespeare’s fault is not the greatest into which a poet may fall. It merely indicates a deficiency of taste. On Dramatic Poetry (1758)
When shall we see poets born? After a time of disasters and great misfortunes, when harrowed nations begin to breathe again. And then, shaken by the terror of such spectacles, imaginations will paint things entirely strange to those who have not witnessed them. On Dramatic Poetry (1758)