“ No, never mind, I didn't think so. Mead, Dante's theme is man-not a man.' Lowell said finally with a mild patience that he reserved only for students. The Italians forever twitch at Dante's sleeves tr… Matthew Pearl
“ It is the one time Dante calls such explicit attention to the idea of contrapasso-a word for which we have no exact translation, no precise definition in English, because the word in itself is its def… Matthew Pearl
“ Milton was the gold standard of religious poets for English and American scholars. But Milton wrote of Hell and Heaven from above and below, respectively, not from the inside: safer advantages. Matthew Pearl
“ Lo giorno se n'andava - Day was departing... Dante slows his deliberation as he prepares to enter the infernal realms for the first time: ... e io sol uno - and only I alone... -how lonely he felt! He… Matthew Pearl
“ My high school English teacher in junior year, Dr. Robert Parsons, assigned us some Poe stories, including 'The Black Cat' and 'The Purloined Letter.' Being an animal person, I had trouble with 'The B… Matthew Pearl
“ When it comes to referring to Dickens's life, performing plays with your nine children for friends and family during Christmas is Dickensian. Matthew Pearl
“ We never like the smell of our own vices in other people, Holmes. Ah, let's steer here for a drink or two, Lowell suggested. Matthew Pearl
“ When I ply the cutlass and make the equivalent of sixpence, idiot conscience applauds me. But if I sit in the house and make twenty pounds by writing, idiot conscience wails over my neglect and the da… Matthew Pearl
“ Books do pretend ...but squeezed in between is even more that is true—without what you may call the lies, the pages would be too light for the truth, you see? Matthew Pearl
“ I don't like my birthday. I don't like things that are directed towards me. It took me a long time to get over people asking me to write my name in the book. Matthew Pearl
“ There was still the temptation to believe the world was a mere trap for human sin. But sin, the way he saw it, was only the failure of an imperfectly made being to keep a perfect law. Matthew Pearl
“ Books inspire a man to embrace the world or flee it. They start wars and end them. They make the men and women who write and publish them vast fortunes, and nearly as quickly can drive them into madne… Matthew Pearl
“ An obscure character by the name of Belial. He is interpreted as a minion of the devil by some scholars, but that is wrong. It is ignorance. The name means, literally speaking, 'one who cannot be yoke… Matthew Pearl
