The scholars and pedantic posturers who surrounded the emperor no doubt improved and abetted.Probably it was this Juggernaut element, inherited from the Gothic gargoyle, which Goethe censured when he said that "Duerer was retarded by a gloomy fantasy devoid of form or foundation."...
But why are actors, in general, such blatant and obnoxious asses, such arrant posturers and wind-bags?Why is it as surprising to find an unassuming and likable fellow among them as to find a Greek without fleas?...
He does not minister to the necessities of the races, like the booth-keepers, the postilions, the waiters, and the hawkers of Lists.He does not assist the attractions of the races, like the actors at the theatre, the riders at the circus, or the posturers at the Poses Plastiques.Absolutely and literally, he is the only individual in Doncaster who stands by the brink of the full-flowing race-stream, and is not swept away by it in common with all the rest of his species....