If you wish at once to do nothing and be respectable nowadays, the best pretext is to be at work on some profound study. — Leslie Stephen Copy Share Image
“The Agnostic is one who asserts 'what no one denies' that there are limits to the sphere of human intelligence.” — Leslie Stephen Copy Share Image
God is angry with man. Unless we believe and repent we shall all be damned. It is impossible, indeed, for its advocates even to… — Leslie Stephen Copy Share Image
Philistine - a word which I understand properly to denote indifference to the higher intellectual interests. The word may also be defined, however, as… — Leslie Stephen Copy Share Image
“No poetry lives which reflects only the cheerful emotions. Our sweetest songs are those which tell of saddest thought. We can bring harmony out… — Leslie Stephen Copy Share Image
He who sees only what is before his eyes sees the worst part of every view. — Leslie Stephen Copy Share Image
When I ceased to accept the teaching of my youth, it was not so much a process of giving up beliefs, as of discovering… — Leslie Stephen Copy Share Image
A good talker, even more than a good orator, implies a good audience. — Leslie Stephen Copy Share Image
The wilderness provides an environment for a child's inner life to develop because it requires him to be constantly aware of his surroundings. — Leslie Stephen Copy Share Image
Walking is the natural recreation for a man who desires not absolutely to suppress his intellect but to turn it out to play for… — Leslie Stephen Copy Share Image
