“If we wish to know the force of human genius, we should read Shakespeare. If we wish to see the insignificance of human learning, we may study his commentators.”

English essayist and critic

William Hazlitt was an English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is known for his critical writing, and he is now ranked among the major figures in the history of English prose. He wrote on literature, drama, art, and public life, and is also regarded as the finest art critic of his time. Though highly respected by later historians of literature and art, his work is now little read and mostly out of print.