For in the sphere of intellect, as in other spheres, weakness
and perversity cleave so firmly to human nature that even the most
brilliant mind is not wholly and at all times free from them. Hence
the great errors to be found even in the works of the greatest men; or
as Horace puts it, _quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus_.
That which distinguishes genius, and should be the standard for
judging it, is the height to which it is able to soar when it is in
the proper mood and finds a fitting occasion--a height always out
of the reach of ordinary talent. And, in like manner, it is a very
dangerous thing to compare two great men of the same class; for
instance, two great poets, or musicians, or philosophers, or artists;
because injustice to the one or the other, at least for the moment,
can hardly be avoided. For in making a comparison of the kind the
critic looks to some particular merit of the one and at once discovers
that it is absent in the other, who is thereby disparaged. And then
if the process is reversed, and the critic begins with the latter and
discovers his peculiar merit, which is quite of a different order from
that presented by the former, with whom it may be looked for in vain,
the result is that both of them suffer undue depreciation.
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