“Burns's gifts, expressed in conversation, are the theme of all that ever heard him. All kinds of gifts: from the gracefulest utterances of courtesy, to the highest fire of passionate speech; loud floods of mirth, soft wailings of affection, laconic emphasis, clear piercing insight; all was in him.”

—  Thomas Carlyle

1840s, Heroes and Hero-Worship (1840), The Hero as Man of Letters

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Thomas Carlyle 481
Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian… 1795–1881

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