Why Distant Objects Please – William Hazlitt

About the Author – William Hazlitt (in Bullets)

·         William Hazlitt was a famous English essayist, critic, and philosopher.

·         Born in 1778 and died in 1830.

·         One of the leading figures of the Romantic Age.

·         Known for his personal essays, critical essays, and literary criticism.

·         His essays are marked by clarity of thought, emotional depth, and personal experience.

·         Strongly influenced by Romantic imagination and human psychology.

·         Major works include Table-Talk, The Spirit of the Age, and Essays on the Principles of Human Action.

·         “Why Distant Objects Please” is one of his most popular reflective essays.

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Essay Publication Details

·         Essay Title: Why Distant Objects Please

·         Author: William Hazlitt

·         Published in: Table-Talk

·         Year of Publication: 1821

·         Genre: Personal / Reflective Essay

·         Style: Simple, conversational, philosophical

·         Subject: Human imagination and pleasure derived from distance

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Summary

William Hazlitt’s essay “Why Distant Objects Please” is a psychological and philosophical explanation of why things that are far away in space or time appear more beautiful, attractive, and pleasing than things that are near and familiar. Hazlitt shows that this pleasure comes not from the objects themselves, but from human imagination, hope, memory, and desire.

1. Distance Creates Beauty through Imagination

Hazlitt begins by saying that distant objects please us because they suggest vastness, space, and greatness. When an object is far away, it is not clearly visible. Because of this lack of clarity, the mind supplies what the eye cannot see. We decorate distant objects with “airy colours of fancy.”

For example, misty mountains on the horizon look grand and beautiful. The mind imagines what lies between us and them—adventures, rivers, unknown lands, happiness, and success. Distance gives imagination freedom. Our feelings become refined, gentle, and elevated. We are lifted above ordinary life and reality.

2. Hope and Desire Make Distance Attractive

Hazlitt emphasizes the role of hope. Hope always promises pleasure. Whatever lies far away appears full of promise. Distance allows hope to grow unchecked by reality. The present moment, on the other hand, feels dull because it is bound by facts, duties, and limitations.

The distant future shines with expectation, while the present feels heavy and disappointing. Thus, distance feeds desire, and desire gives pleasure.

3. Passion Rules Over Distance

Hazlitt explains that passion rules infinite space. Everything that is not present belongs to imagination and emotion. Distant objects lie at the edge of passion’s kingdom, where they are shaped and beautified by feelings. The present moment alone escapes passion because it is fixed and real.

4. Nearness Destroys Illusion (Personal Example)

Hazlitt gives a personal childhood example. He lived near blue hills that looked magical from a distance. When he finally went close to them, he found them to be ugly, heavy masses of earth. The dream vanished.

From this, Hazlitt learned an important lesson: approaching our dreams often destroys their charm. It is sometimes wiser to leave dreams untouched than to test them with reality.

5. Distance in Time: Past and Future

Hazlitt then explains that distance in time works like distance in space.

·         The future pleases us because it is full of hope and possibility.

·         The past pleases us because time removes pain and preserves only pleasant memories.

Suffering loses its sharpness with time. Memory reshapes experiences into what we wish they had been. Even painful events become softened and comforting when viewed from a distance.

Thus, both ends of human life—the past and the future—appear bright, while the present feels dull.

6. Human Nature: Endless Desire

Hazlitt believes that human beings are naturally hopeful and restless. There is a constant tendency toward good in the human mind. Even after failure, disappointment, or suffering, the soul keeps aspiring forward.

Humans enjoy desire more than fulfillment. Possession often disappoints, but longing remains pleasurable. Once obstacles are removed, the mind quickly returns to its ideal image of happiness.

7. Power of Memory and Childhood

Hazlitt gives long examples from childhood. Places that no longer exist live vividly in memory. Childhood gardens, toys, flowers, games, and simple pleasures become richer and more beautiful in recollection.

Memory does not merely repeat the past; it recreates it with brighter colours and deeper emotions. Childhood joys gain sweetness with time and distance.

8. Association of Ideas

Hazlitt explains that ordinary objects remind us of the past through association. A garden, a kite, vegetables, or flowers recall childhood emotions. These associations give emotional value to simple objects and make them precious.

9. Superiority of Smell, Sound, and Taste

Hazlitt argues that smell, sound, and taste are remembered more vividly than sight. This is because:

·         They are rare and intermittent.

·         They are not constantly repeated.

·         They remain pure and separate in memory.

Sight, on the other hand, is always active. Visual impressions overlap and fade. A smell or sound, when recalled, returns with great force and clarity.

10. Music and Sound

Music affects us deeply because it breaks silence. Hazlitt describes hearing church music and voices that lift the soul toward heaven. Sound awakens imagination and emotion more strongly than sight.

11. Distance and Human Relationships

Hazlitt ends with an important distinction:

·         Places and objects improve with distance

·         People improve with nearness

From a distance, we imagine people as monsters or heroes. Near acquaintance shows that human beings are mixed—part good, part bad. Familiarity removes hatred and exaggeration. We can hardly hate anyone we truly know.

Conclusion

Hazlitt concludes that distance pleases because it allows imagination, hope, memory, and desire to operate freely. Nearness brings reality; distance creates beauty. Human happiness lies more in dreaming, hoping, and remembering than in possession or fact.

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MCQs (15)

1.      Who wrote Why Distant Objects Please?
a) Charles Lamb          b) William Hazlitt
c) Addison      d) Steele
Answer: b

2.      The essay belongs to which literary age?
a) Victorian     b) Classical
c) Romantic     d) Modern
Answer: c

3.      Distant objects please mainly because they excite—
a) Reason                    b) Logic
c) Imagination             d) Knowledge
Answer: c

4.      What hides defects and creates beauty?
a) Nearness                  b) Distance
c) Reality                     d) Habit
Answer: b

5.      Which emotion is closely linked with distance?
a) Fear                         b) Anger
c) Hope                       d) Hatred
Answer: c

6.      What happens when distant objects are approached?
a) They improve                      b) They remain the same
c) They often disappoint         d) They disappear
Answer: c

7.      Which looks more attractive according to Hazlitt?
a) Present                                b) Reality
c) Past and future                    d) Facts
Answer: c

8.      Time does what to pain?
a) Increases it              b) Preserves it
c) Sharpens it              d) Softens it
Answer: d

9.      Childhood memories become—
a) Weaker                    b) Bitter
c) More beautiful        d) Meaningless
Answer: c

10.  Which sense is remembered longest?
a) Sight                        b) Touch
c) Smell and sound     d) Balance
Answer: c

11.  Why are visual memories weaker?
a) They are rare                       b) They are continuous
c) They are emotional              d) They are painful
Answer: b

12.  Music affects us deeply because—
a) It is logical              b) It breaks silence
c) It is visual                d) It is loud
Answer: b

13.  According to Hazlitt, people improve by—
a) Distance                              b) Imagination
c) Near acquaintance               d) Rumour
Answer: c

14.  The essay mainly studies—
a) Nature                                 b) Politics
c) Human psychology             d) Science
Answer: c

15.  Hazlitt believes happiness lies more in—
a) Possession                           b) Wealth
c) Desire and imagination       d) Knowledge
Answer: c

Questions with Answers

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1. Why do distant objects please us? Discuss Hazlitt’s views in detail.

Answer:
William Hazlitt explains that distant objects please us because distance allows imagination to work freely. When objects are far away, their defects are hidden, and the mind fills the gap with beauty, hope, and ideal images. Distance softens roughness and removes ugliness. Misty mountains, far horizons, and fading landscapes appear grand because they are vague.

Hazlitt argues that hope plays a central role. Whatever is distant promises happiness. The present moment feels dull because it is limited by reality, duties, and facts. Distance feeds desire, and desire itself becomes a source of pleasure.

Hazlitt also explains that both the past and the future please us more than the present. Time removes pain from memory and leaves only pleasure. The future appears bright because it is full of hope. Thus, distant objects—whether in space or time—please us because they belong to imagination rather than reality.

2. Examine the role of imagination and memory in “Why Distant Objects Please.”

Answer:
Imagination is the central force in Hazlitt’s essay. It transforms distant objects into ideal forms by adding beauty, emotion, and meaning. Distance gives imagination freedom, while nearness limits it. Through imagination, ordinary landscapes become magnificent, and common experiences become extraordinary.

Memory works closely with imagination. Time softens pain and reshapes experience. Childhood memories become richer and more beautiful than they were in reality. Memory does not reproduce the past faithfully; it recreates it according to our wishes.

Hazlitt shows that imagination and memory together give emotional depth to life. They allow humans to escape dull reality and find pleasure in hope, recollection, and desire.

3. How does Hazlitt contrast nearness and distance in the essay?

Answer:
Hazlitt contrasts nearness and distance to show how they affect human perception. Distance beautifies objects by hiding their defects and allowing imagination to operate. Nearness, on the other hand, exposes flaws and destroys illusion.

He gives the example of hills that look magical from afar but appear ugly when approached. This shows that reality often disappoints expectations. Distance creates charm; nearness removes it.

However, Hazlitt makes an important exception: while places and objects improve with distance, people improve with nearness. Familiarity reveals human complexity and removes exaggerated hatred or admiration.

4. Discuss Hazlitt’s views on human nature and desire in the essay.

Answer:
Hazlitt presents human beings as creatures of desire rather than satisfaction. Humans enjoy longing more than possession. Once a desire is fulfilled, pleasure fades. Distance keeps desire alive and therefore keeps pleasure alive.

He believes that the human mind has a natural tendency toward hope and goodness. Even after disappointment, the soul continues to aspire. Memory and imagination help humans survive pain by transforming it into something bearable or even pleasant.

Thus, Hazlitt’s essay is not only about distant objects but also about human psychology, showing how imagination, hope, and desire shape our happiness.