Charles de Saint-Évremond

“ Their Virtues, once establish’d, interest our self-love near as much as our own real merit; and ’tis impossible to make the least alteration in them, without making us feel this change with violence. Above all things, we ought not to injure the reputation of their Genius in the War, to render them more illustrious in their Amours. We may give them Mistresses of our own inventing, we may mix passion with their Glory : but let us take care of making an Anthony of an Alexander; and not ruin a Hero, confirm’d for so many ages, merely to favour a Lover of our own creating. ”

“ And indeed, we have ills enough to suffer, and sins to commit, without creating new torments, and new crimes, by new Institutions. ’Tis a piece of folly, to seek far from Court, a Retreat where a man will live with more hardship, and damn himself with more ease, than in the conversation of men.
I hate the austerity of those, who, to enlarge duty, leave no room for good-will : they make all center in the necessity of obeying, without any other reason, than constantly to exercise our obedience; and, because they still delight in enjoying their power. ”

“ That delicacy of Pleasure, which our Imagination paints to us, is what we seldom enjoy; the sickly nice fancy gives us a disrelish of those things which we might possess, during the whole course of our lives. Not that, to say truth, it is impossible to find such Jewels; but it is very rarely that Nature forms ’em, and that Fortune favours us with ’em. My good stars made me know one of this rank in France, and another of equal merit in a foreign Country, who was the whole delight of my life. ”

“ Our Fear, generally speaking, is nothing else but an agreeable Uneasiness, which consists in the suspension of our Minds; ’tis a dear concern, which our Soul has for those subjects that draw its affection to them.
We may almost say the same of Pity, as ’tis used on our Stage. We divest it of all its weakness; and leave it all that we call charitable and human. I love to see the Misfortune of some great unhappy person lamented ”

“ To speak seriously, I can here discern nothing of Alexander, but his bare name; his Genius, his Humour, his Qualities, appear to me no where. I expect to find in an impetuous Hero such extraordinary motions, as should excite my passion; but I find a Prince of so little spirit, that he makes no manner of impression upon me. I imagin’d to find in Porus, a greatness of soul, which would be somewhat more surprizing to us; an Indian Hero should have a different character from one of ours. ”

“ After my way of living, I neither enjoy a full Society, nor a perfect Retirement. ’Tis only an innocent confining of my self to those delights, which best agree with my inclinations. Disgusted with gross Vice, and offended by the practice of too rigid Virtue, I possess all those harmless pleasures that are most suitable to the repose of old Age, and affect me in proportion to what I am capable of relishing with satisfaction. ”

“ I confess, I have formerly been more difficult in the choice of the Men with whom I convers’d, than at present I am; and I think my self not so much a loser in point of Delicacy, as a gainer in point of Sense. I then sought for men that could please me in every thing, I now seek every thing that may please me in any man. A man in all respects agreeable, is too great a rarity, and it is no wisdom to hunt for what we are hardly ever like to find. ”

“ We imagine we make Kings and Emperors perfect Lovers, but in truth we make ridiculous Princes of them; and by the complaints and sighs which we bestow upon them, where they ought neither to complain nor sigh, we represent them weak, both as Lovers and as Princes. Our great Heroes upon the Theatre, do often make love like Shepherds; and thus the innocence of a sort of rural Passion, supplies with them the place of Glory and Valour. ”

“ To banish Love out of our Tragedies, as unworthy of Heroes, is to take away that secret charm which unites our Souls to theirs, by a certain tie that continues between them : but then to bring them down to us by this common sentiment, don’t let us make them descend beneath themselves, nor destroy what they possess above men. Provided this discretion be observ’d, I dare affirm, that there are no subjects, where so universal a passion as Love is, may not be introduc’d naturally, and without violence. ”

“ There is no part of our life wherein we ought to study our own Humour with more application than in old age; for it is never so difficult to be discover’d as then. An impetuous young fellow has a hundred returns, when he is dissatisfied with his Extravagancies : but old people devote themselves to their Humour as if it was a virtue; and take pleasure in their own defects, because they carry a false resemblance of the most commendable qualities. In effect, as they grow more difficult, they vainly imagine that they become more delicate. ”

“ Corneille, who sufficiently discovers himself without being named, becomes an ordinary man when he speaks for himself. He dares say any thing for a Greek or a Roman : a Frenchman or Spaniard abates his Courage; and when he speaks for him, he is quite dispirited. He racks his Imagination for all that is noble to adorn his old Heroes, and you would say, that he debarr’d himself the advantage of his own wealth, as if he were not worthy the use of it.
If you know the world perfectly, you will find in it abundance of men valuable for their Talents, and as contemptible for their Failings. ”

“ By his performance one would think, that he had a mind to give the world a greater idea of Porus, than of Alexander, in which it was not possible for him to succeed : for the History of Alexander, as true as it is, has much of the air of a Romance in it; and for an Author to make a greater Hero than him, is to affect to deal in fiction, and rob his Work, not only of the credit of truth, but the agreeableness of probability. Let us not therefore imagine any thing greater than this Conqueror of the World, otherwise our imaginations will range too far, and soar too high. ”