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A great scholar…is…not one who depends simply on an infinite memory, but also on an infinite and electrical power of combination; bringing together from the four winds, like the angel of the resurrection, what else were dust from dead men's bones, into the unity of breathing life.

— Thomas De Quincey Joan of Arc (1847)

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More quotes by Thomas De Quincey

Solitude, though silent as light, is, like light, the mightiest of agencies; for solitude is essential to man. All men come into this world alone; all leave it alone.

In many walks of life, a conscience is a more expensive encumbrance than a wife or a carriage.

Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1822)

It is notorious that the memory strengthens as you lay burdens upon it, and becomes trustworthy as you trust it.

The laughter of girls is, and ever was, among the delightful sounds of earth.

Coleridge and Opium-Eating (1845)

Dyspepsy is the ruin of most things: empires, expeditions, and everything else.

Letter to Hessey (1823)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Thomas De Quincey (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.