portrait-photo

The Wunderkammer of the Mild Colonial Boy, Esq., a Reactionary Tory Gentleman, who armed only with a Steampowered Babbage Engine and Pure Intentions, wanders the Time Streams and Aetheric Plane gathering an Eccentric Hodgepodge of Curiousities, Frivolities, Whimsicalities and Nonsense.

Q. Why is your Tumblelog called "My Ear-Trumpet Has Been Struck by Lightning"?

A. Because "My Grandmother's Ear-Trumpet Has Been Struck by Lightning" wouldn't fit in the available space.

"This litigious humour is bad enough: but there is one character still worse — that of a person who goes into company, not to contradict, but to talk at you. This is the greatest nuisance in civilised society. Such a person does not come armed to defend himself at all points, but to unsettle, if he can, and throw a slur on all your favourite opinions. If he has a notion that anyone in the room is fond of poetry, he immediately volunteers a contemptuous tirade against the idle jingle of verse. If he suspects you have a delight in pictures, he endeavours, not by fair argument, but by a side-wind, to put you out of conceit with so frivolous an art. If you have a taste for music, he does not think much good is to be done by this tickling of the ears. If you speak in praise of a comedy, he does not see the use of wit: if you say you have been to a tragedy, he shakes his head at this mockery of human misery, and thinks it ought to be prohibited. He tries to find out beforehand whatever it is that you take a particular pride or pleasure in, that he may annoy your self-love in the tenderest point (as if he were probing a wound) and make you dissatisfied with yourself and your pursuits for several days afterwards. A person might as well make a practice of throwing out scandalous aspersions against your dearest friends or nearest relations, by way of ingratiating himself into your favour. Such ill-timed impertinence is ‘villainous, and shows a pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it.’"

— – William Hazlitt, “On the Conversation of Authors,” 1820
Diary of a Muslim: The Troll 

"Silence is one great art of conversation. He is not a fool who knows when to hold his tongue; and a person may gain credit for sense, eloquence, wit, who merely says nothing to lessen the opinion which others have of these qualities in themselves."

— William Hazlitt (via sincitycitizensinner)
amandaonwriting: Literary Birthday - 4 December Happy Birthday, Thomas Carlyle, born 4 December 1795, died 5 February 1881 Thomas Carlyle: 10 Literary Quotes What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with us. The greatest university of all is a collection of books. Writing is a dreadful labour, yet not so dreadful as Idleness. Let each become all that he was created capable of being. Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains. The history of the world is but the biography of great men. The best effect of any book is that it excites the reader to self-activity. A well-written life is almost as rare as a well-spent one. In the true Literary Man there is thus ever, acknowledged or not by the world, a sacredness: he is the light of the world; the world’s Priest; — guiding it, like a sacred Pillar of Fire, in its dark pilgrimage through the waste of Time. Under all speech that is good for anything there lies a silence that is better. Silence is deep as Eternity; speech is shallow as Time. The greatest of all faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none.  Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian, and teacher during the Victorian era. He became a controversial social commentator.He was raised in a strict Calvinist family and expected to become a preacher. After studying at the University of Edinburgh, he lost his faith but not his ethics. He became a leading moral force in Victorian literature. His best works include The French Revolution and On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History. by Amanda Patterson From Writers Write

amandaonwriting:

Literary Birthday - 4 December

Happy Birthday, Thomas Carlyle, born 4 December 1795, died 5 February 1881

Thomas Carlyle: 10 Literary Quotes

  1. What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with us. The greatest university of all is a collection of books.
  2. Writing is a dreadful labour, yet not so dreadful as Idleness.
  3. Let each become all that he was created capable of being.
  4. Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains.
  5. The history of the world is but the biography of great men.
  6. The best effect of any book is that it excites the reader to self-activity.
  7. A well-written life is almost as rare as a well-spent one.
  8. In the true Literary Man there is thus ever, acknowledged or not by the world, a sacredness: he is the light of the world; the world’s Priest; — guiding it, like a sacred Pillar of Fire, in its dark pilgrimage through the waste of Time.
  9. Under all speech that is good for anything there lies a silence that is better. Silence is deep as Eternity; speech is shallow as Time.
  10. The greatest of all faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none. 

Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian, and teacher during the Victorian era. He became a controversial social commentator.
He was raised in a strict Calvinist family and expected to become a preacher. After studying at the University of Edinburgh, he lost his faith but not his ethics. He became a leading moral force in Victorian literature. His best works include The French Revolution and On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History.

by Amanda Patterson

From Writers Write

Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel, Duchess of Cambridge - Sir William Beechey (1818)

Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel, Duchess of Cambridge - Sir William Beechey (1818)

(Source: empire-biedermeier)

Lord Byron - Richard Westall

Lord Byron - Richard Westall

(Source: empire-biedermeier)

moika-palace: Via Devambez.

moika-palace:

Via Devambez.

mothgirlwings: Goofy gets festive at “The Whoopee Party” (1932) - Walt Disney

mothgirlwings:

Goofy gets festive at “The Whoopee Party” (1932) - Walt Disney

cavetocanvas: Frans Hals, The Meagre Company, 1633-37

cavetocanvas:

Frans Hals, The Meagre Company, 1633-37

books0977: Woman Reading. Gabriel Ferrier (1847-1914, French). Academic painter. Prix de Rome in 1872. Later teacher at l’École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts and member l’Académie des beaux-arts.

books0977:

Woman Reading. Gabriel Ferrier (1847-1914, French). Academic painter. Prix de Rome in 1872. Later teacher at l’École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts and member l’Académie des beaux-arts.

books0977: Portrait of Julia Makovskaya, The Artist’s Wife (1881). Konstantin Yegorovich Makovskaya (Russian, 1839-1915).  Many of his historical paintings, such as The Russian Bride’s Attire (1889), showed an idealized view of Russian life of prior centuries. He is often considered a representative of a Salon art. Some critics see him as a forerunner of Russian Impressionism.

books0977:

Portrait of Julia Makovskaya, The Artist’s Wife (1881). Konstantin Yegorovich Makovskaya (Russian, 1839-1915). 

Many of his historical paintings, such as The Russian Bride’s Attire (1889), showed an idealized view of Russian life of prior centuries. He is often considered a representative of a Salon art.

Some critics see him as a forerunner of Russian Impressionism.