The fear of life is the favorite disease of the twentieth century.

William Lyon Phelps

William Lyon Phelps (2 January 1865 - 21 August 1943) was an American author, critic and scholar. Phelps gained a B.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University and an M.A. from Harvard University, where he went on to teach for just one year before returning to Yale to hold a position in the English department for 41 years. From 1941 to 1943 he was the director of the Hall of Fame for Great Americans. He is included in Steven D. Price's compilation "1001 Smartest Things Ever Said" for saying, "This is the first test of a gentleman: his respect for those who can be of no possible value to him

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