On the Sublime

“The startling and amazing is more powerful than the charming and persuasive, if it is indeed true that to be convinced is usually within our control whereas amazement is the result of an irresistible force beyond the control of any audience.” 

This quote contrasts the sublime with the persuasive, preferring the former for its emotional power. This preference reflects Longinus’s priorities as a literary theorist. He values the sublime because it overwhelms the reader with a sense of irresistible power beyond human reason or control.

“Great qualities […] need the bridle as well as the spur.” 

In discussing the relative importance of natural genius (talent) and training, Longinus affirms the need for a balance between the two. Against those who claim that talent alone is necessary for writing well, he emphasizes the need for training, because it tames the sometimes unruly energy of genius.

“[N]othing is noble which it is noble to despise.”

Longinus discusses the moral qualities of the great writer, who must reject worldly pleasure and power in favor of spiritual values. This idea reflects Stoic philosophy, which taught detachment from worldly pleasures. More specifically, Longinus draws a parallel between moral purity and a pure writing style free from superficial and pompous rhetorical effects.

“Our soul is naturally uplifted by the truly great; we receive it as a joyous offering; we are filled with delight and pride as if we had ourselves created what we heard.” 

Longinus describes the effects of the sublime. The sublime inspires gratitude and joyous emotions, making us feel as one with the art work and the artist. Longinus goes on to say that sublime writing resonates in our minds and souls, leading to further thoughts and reflections and remaining in the memory. Thus, the sublime creates a deep communion between the reader and the work that is more than mere diversion or entertainment.

“For I would make bold to say that nothing contributes to greatness as much as noble passion in the right place.” 

Longinus states his preference for emotion in writing, though he also specifies that emotion needs to be proportionate and well-placed. This statement shows that Longinus considers emotion more important than reason or persuasion in creating great writing.

“Great writing is the echo of a noble mind.” 

This quote sums up Longinus’s beliefs about the relationship between morality and great writing. In order to produce great writing, the writer must have “nobility,” meaning a fine moral character. Writing will reflect character, by expressing noble ideas and feelings or depicting noble actions.

“The cunning use of figures arouses a peculiar suspicion in the hearer’s mind, a feeling of being deliberately trapped and misled.” 

Longinus describes the effect of figures of speech when they are poorly handled: They can cause frustration and anger in the reader, who will stop listening. Instead, the writer should make figures as unnoticeable as possible, which will increase the persuasive power of the writing.

“Passionate language is more moving when it seems to arise spontaneously and not to be contrived by the speaker.” 

Throughout the treatise, Longinus emphasizes the importance of emotional sincerity and truthfulness. The emotions in a piece of writing must be genuine and must fit the situation, rather than being forced or contrived by the writer. Here Longinus argues in favor of rhetorical questions and answers tools that suggest emotional spontaneity.

“[T]he effect of marking time is peaceful, while in disorder there is passion which is movement and excitement of mind.” 

Marking time” refers to language with overly regular rhythms, suggestive of poetry or dance. These convey regularity and peacefulness. To convey passion, the writer should instead choose words and phrases with an irregular and unpredictable rhythm.

“Beautiful words are in truth the mind’s peculiar light.” 

This statement comes during the discussion of diction, or word choice. Good word choice endows writing with special aesthetic qualities, which have the effect of “providing events […] with a speaking soul” (41). The quote points to the aesthetic power of writing and its ability to reflect human nature in addition to simply reporting events.

“A vulgarism is sometimes far more expressive than ornamented language.” 

Longinus favors the occasional “vulgarism,” including coarse and vivid descriptions, such as saying that someone was “cut to mincemeat” in battle. This is consistent with his preference for emotional power over formal correctness in writing.

“[W]hich is to be preferred in poetry or in prose, great writing with occasional flaws or moderate talent which is entirely sound and faultless?”

One of the strongest statements of Longinus’s argument for the superiority of genius over art. He implies that true greatness justifies occasionally going against the rules of style.

“[N]ature judged man to be no lowly or ignoble creature when she brought us into this life and into the whole universe as into a great celebration, to be spectators of her whole performance and most ambitious actors.” 

This quote comes from one of the work’s more philosophical and lyrical passages. Human beings have great dignity in the hierarchy of nature; they are capable of knowing truth and acting nobly. Great writers understand this and make their writing express the full range of grandeur that both nature and human greatness achieve. Longinus affirms that great writing expresses an inherent greatness in human beings and an essential joy in existence.

“She implanted at once into our souls an invincible love for all that is great and more divine than ourselves.” 

Continuing directly from the previous quote, Longinus declares that people are naturally receptive to the sublime. He implies that the sublime is made up of everything that is greater than human nature, including religious experience and natural sights that induce awe (such as a starry sky).

“[M]an can easily understand what is useful or necessary, but he admires what passes his understanding.” 

Human nature is oriented toward the sublime. Human beings need to admire things that are above and beyond their nature, including the sublime, which is embodied in the gods or God. Human beings are not content with practical matters we can easily understand, and must have mystery, “admiration,” and “wonder” as well.

“Other qualities prove writers to be men, greatness raises them close to the nobility of a divine mind.”

Longinus distinguishes between natural and ordinary qualities of a writer and the greatness that, in some writers, surpasses nature and achieves the sublime or divine. Longinus declares that great writers reach this supernatural level. To follow the rules faultlessly is a good thing, but true greatness raises a writer to a godlike level.

“[I]t is fitting that art should everywhere give its help to nature. The two together may well produce perfection.” 

After arguing for the supremacy of genius over the rules of art, Longinus concedes that the two principles (nature and art) can help each other, thus achieving something greater in literature than either could achieve alone. Longinus associates the power of speech with the superhuman, because it transcends man’s nature and can express all things.

“As I never cease repeating, actions and passions which bring one close to distraction compensate for and justify every boldness of expression.” 

Another affirmation of emotional expression as the supreme principle in great writing, and as a quality that outweighs technical rules. This statement defines greatness in writing as the quality that brings its audience “close to distraction,” i.e., to a point of extreme emotion.

“[A] sense of melody is not only inborn in man as a means of persuasion and delight, but it is also a marvelous instrument when allied to a free flow of passion.”

Longinus discusses the relationship between “melody” and meaning in writing. Melody has to do with the rhythms and combinations of sounds created by word choice. This purely aesthetic element in writing is a powerful tool and should be combined with emotion for the best effect. Longinus calls the end result “the music of rational speech” (51).

“It charms us by the architecture of its phrases as it builds the music of great passages which casts a spell upon us and at the same time ever disposes us to dignity, honor, greatness, and all the qualities it holds within itself.”

These are the aesthetic qualities and effects of great writing. It is a combination of structure (architecture) and poetry (music) which together influence readers almost magically, encouraging moral values and virtue.

“A great work is like a feast to the courses of which many people contribute.” 

A work of literature includes many elements working together, including diction, word arrangement, figures of speech, etc. This interdependent structure is similar to the parts of the body: “One limb by itself, cut off from the others, is of no value, but all of them together complete and perfect the composition of the whole (52). Longinus’s metaphor of a feast suggests that the end or purpose of literature is pleasurable.

“[A] slave can have many other qualities, but he can never be an orator.” 

This quote is from Longinus’s philosopher friend, who laments the absence of literary genius in the present age and attributes it to the decline of freedom in society. Literary greatness depends in part on freedom of speech, freedom over one’s own actions, and freedom from constraint and flattery. Writers must have the freedom to say what they want and what they mean. For this reason, a person whose liberty has been limited cannot achieve literary greatness.

“We are the slaves of money, which is an insatiable disease in us all, and also the slaves of pleasure; these two violate our lives and our persons.” 

This is Longinus’s response to his philosopher friend. He ascribes the decline of literary genius to personal rather than to societal causes. The decline is due to people’s obsession with material values and pleasure, which destroy a sense of value and aesthetic judgment. In the final chapter where this quotation occurs, Longinus goes beyond literary theory to speak in a moral and philosophical voice reminiscent of like Aristotle, Plato, or the Stoic philosophers.