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The genius of the Spanish people is exquisitely subtile, without being at all acute: hence there is so much humor and so little wit in their literature. The genius of the Italians, on the contrary, is acute, profound, and sensual, but not subtile; hence what they think to be humorous is merely witty.

The genius of the Spanish people is exquisitely subtile, without being at all acute: hence there is so much humor and so little wit in their literature. The genius of the Italians, on the contrary, is acute, profound, and sensual, but not subtile; hence what they think to be humorous is merely witty.

Approximate author period: c. 1803 AD · industrial

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Attribution & collection notes
Author or tradition
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Attribution: attributed
Country attributed
Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin.
Historical period
Approximate author period: c. 1803 AD · industrial
author lifetime midpoint (1772–1834)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken.
Recorded source
Pearls of Thought (1881) (1881 AD)

Page 124 · printed citation: Coleridge · subject: Humor

A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.