The collected works of William Hazlitt, Vol. 11 (of 12)Hazlitt, William
Philosophy
The collected works of William Hazlitt, Vol. 11 (of 12)
Hazlitt, William
English essays -- 19th century
‘When a body is once in motion, it moveth (unless something else hinder
it) eternally: and whatsoever hindereth it, cannot in an instant, but in
time and by degrees quite extinguish it. And as we see in the water,
though the wind cease, the waves give not over rolling for a long time
after; so also it happeneth in that motion which is made in the internal
parts of a man then, when he sees, hears, &c. For after the object is
removed or the eye shut, we still retain an image of the thing seen,
though more obscure than when we see it. And this is it the Latins call
_imagination_, from the image made in seeing; and apply the same, though
improperly, to all the other senses. But the Greeks call it _fancy_;
which signifies appearance, and is as proper to one sense, as to
another. Imagination is therefore nothing but _decaying sense_; and is
found in man and many other living creatures, as well sleeping as
waking.
‘The decay of sense in men waking is an obscuring of it in such manner
as the light of the sun obscureth the light of the stars, which stars do
no less exercise their virtue by which they are visible in the day than
in the night. But because amongst many strokes, which our eyes, ears,
and other organs receive from external bodies, the predominant only is
sensible, therefore the light of the sun being predominant, we are not
affected with the action of the stars. And any object being removed from
our eyes, though the impression it made in us remain; yet other objects
more present succeeding, and working on us, the imagination of the past
is obscured, and made weak; as the voice of a man is in the noise of the
day. From whence it follows, that the longer the time is, after the
sight or sense of any objects the weaker is the imagination. For the
continual change of man’s body destroys in time the parts which in sense
were moved: so that distance of time and of place hath one and the same
effect in us. For as at a great distance of place, that which we look at
appears dim, and without distinction of the smaller parts, and as voices
grow weak and inarticulate, so also after great distance of time, our
imagination of the past is weak; and we lose (for example) of cities we
have seen many particular streets, and of actions, many particular
circumstances. This decaying sense, when we would express the thing
itself (I mean fancy itself) we call Imagination, as I said before: but
when we would express the decay, and signify that the sense is fading,
old and past, it is called _Memory_. So that imagination and memory are
but one thing which for divers considerations hath divers names. Much
memory or memory of many things is called Experience.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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