When writing of writers and their productions, Thomas de Quincey set forward an interesting theory. He divided books into two kinds. The first belonged to what he called the "Literature of Knowledge," and they were intended to give instruction or to present information. But such books would, from time to time, become obsolete and have to be brought up to date, or need revision for some other reason, or re-arrangement. But, anyway, they do not generally have permanency. The second kind, which he called "The Literature of Power," did have permanency because it moved: it had the power to move the heart, the feelings of people. And being what it was, written from the author's living experience or what he had himself seen, gave the writing a power which instructed works of information do not possess. In other words, the Literature of Power survives, whereas the Literature of Knowledge gets superseded.
-- Notebooks Category 14: The Arts in Culture > Chapter 4 : Reflections On Specific Arts > # 140
