How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
These authors [Aristotle and Plato], though they instructed me in no science by which men may promise to themselves to acquire the least riches or worldly power, taught me, however, the art of despising the highest acquisitions of both. They elevate the mind, and steel and harden it against the capricious invasions of fortune. They not only instruct in the knowledge of Wisdom, but confirm men in her habits, and demonstrate plainly, that this must be our guide, if we propose ever to arrive at the greatest worldly happiness, or to defend ourselves, with any tolerable security, against the misery which everywhere surrounds and invests us. (8.13.15)
It's funny that the Man of the Hill so admires the minds of Aristotle and Plato when he so hates mankind. Like, why do Aristotle and Plato get a pass from his hatred of other people? Is it just because they've been dead for a really long time? Is it because he doesn't have to meet them face to face? But anyway, we picked out this passage because it outlines why the Man of the Hill thinks literature is important: it guides us to be better, and it supports us against the pressures of the world. In other words, if the Man of the World believes that it is society that makes individuals bad, he also appears to think that literature can protect you from those social evils. According to this guy, literature is like a defense mechanism—a Kevlar vest against evil influences.
Quote #8
The coach which had brought the young lady and her maid, and which, perhaps, the reader may have hitherto concluded was her own, was, indeed, a returned coach belonging to Mr King, of Bath, one of the worthiest and honestest men that ever dealt in horse-flesh, and whose coaches we heartily recommend to all our readers who travel that road. By which means they may, perhaps, have the pleasure of riding in the very coach, and being driven by the very coachman, that is recorded in this history. (10.6.12)
We can't find a real-life person who matches this description of "Mr. King," but that doesn't mean there wasn't one. Still, moments like these, when the narrator stops the plot to give what amounts to a commercial in the middle of the novel, happen pretty often. Think of the narrator's admiration for the Bell at Gloucester (Book 8, Chapter 8). Or his shout-out to "the celebrated Mrs. Hussey" (10.3.25), who makes fashionable gowns for ladies. How do these non-fictional recommendations affect your experience reading Tom Jones? How do these moments influence your sense of Tom Jones's realism? Do they give you any ideas about the reading audience at the time, or about Fielding's intended readership?
Quote #9
Vice hath not, I believe, a more abject slave; society produces not a more odious vermin; nor can the devil receive a guest more worthy of him, nor possibly more welcome to him, than a slanderer. The world, I am afraid, regards not this monster with half the abhorrence which he deserves; and I am more afraid to assign the reason of this criminal lenity shown towards him; yet it is certain that the thief looks innocent in the comparison; nay, the murderer himself can seldom stand in competition with his guilt: for slander is a more cruel weapon than a sword, as the wounds which the former gives are always incurable. (11.1.6)
And here, we say to Fielding: oh, so you can dish it out, but you can't take it? "Slander" means spreading hurtful lies about a person. But Fielding uses "slander" in this passage specifically to refer to unfairly critical judgments of good books. Fielding claims that such criticism is worse than a sword wound, because people can recover from physical injuries, but criticism hurts them forever. (So Fielding is presenting the opposite view of that old saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." For Fielding, only words really hurt.)
However, we are sure that Nicholas Rowe (whom Fielding dismisses as an "imitator" (9.1.4) of Shakespeare) would say that Fielding is the harsh one. Fielding is hyper-critical. Fielding may be super-sensitive about his own work, but he's perfectly happy to rip apart other authors he doesn't respect—double standard, much?