Eight Modern Essayists (Second Edition)

Contains

Canonical title

Eight Modern Essayists (Second Edition) (Second Edition)

Original title

Eight Modern Essayists

Alternate titles

8 Modern Essayists

Original publication date

1965

People/Characters

Lord Chesterfield; Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield; Voltaire "François-Marie Arouet", 1694-1778; Gabrielle-Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Châtelet

Dedication

To Paul, David, and Fern. [Second Edition]

To Sarah & Jessie [Fifth Edition]

First words

There have been many changes in the twenty-five years since Eight Modern Essayists was first published.
--Preface to the 5th ed.

Quotations

At any rate, it is worth reporting that long before the circus comes to town, its most notable performances have already been given. Under the bright lights of the finished show, a performer need only reflect the electric can... (show all)dle power that is directed upon him; but in the dark and dirty old training rings and in the makeshift cages, whatever light is generated, whatever excitement, whatever beauty, must come from original sources--from internal fires of professional hunger and delight, from the exuberance and gravity of youth. It is the difference between planetary light and the combustion of the sun.
[The Ring of Time](E.B. White)

---

I think that by retaining one's childhood love of such things as trees, fishes, butterflies, and--to return to my first instance--toads, one makes a peaceful and decent future a little more probable, and that by preaching the... (show all) doctrine that nothing is to be admired except steel and concrete, one merely makes it a little surer that human beings will have no outlet for their surplus energy except in hatred and leader-worship.
[Some Thoughts on the Common Toad](George Orwell)

---

Negroes want to be treated like men: a perfectly straightforward statement, containing only seven words. People who have mastered Kant, Hegel, Shakespeare, Marx, Freud, and the Bible find this statement utterly impenet... (show all)rable. The idea seems to threaten profound, barely conscious assumptions.
[Fifth Avenue, Uptown](James Baldwin)

Publisher's editor

Gallaher, Mark

Original language

English