Gilbert Cannan

"By its truth and absolute integrity — since Tolstoy I know of no writing so crystal clear — "Jean-Christophe" is the first great book of the twentieth century. In a sense it begins the twenties century. It bridges transition, and shows us where we stand. It reveals the past and the present, and leaves the future open to us ..."

"Bad art has always been used as an escape from life; good art admits of no escape and forces a man to see himself in a glass clearly."

"I nothing know but that I nothing know, And therefore I sing merrily. I sit and watch the thronging moments go, Each taking life from me."

"of an event is unlikely to be interesting after it and this may be the reason why my prophetic utterances regarding the Great War took the form of Satire."

"In February 1911 Gilbert had joined the , proposed by , the playwright, and seconded by and Reginald Geard."

"A thing is no sooner out of fashion than it begins to appear antique; and the literary movements of the are already discounted as a curiosity by the rising generation. The attitude is natural enough; and yet, if the truth be realized, the despised were actually the seed-time of the most characteristic literary harvest of to-day. The apostolic succession of literature is indeed always developing new phases. Without Mr. Kipling there would have been no Mr. Masefield; and it is undoubtedly to the faded audacities of Mr. Arthur Symons and Mr. Richard Le Gallienne that we owe the mor strenuous frankness of Mr. Gilbert Cannan and Rupert Brooke."