Hazlitt was part of the English Romantic Movement, inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution, and was a committed Radical all his life, in contrast to his friends Coleridge and Wordsworth. He wrote essays that were widely revered as the best of his time.
As Ley states, 'Although he was a believer in objective truth, Hazlitt saw truth as an active principle. 'The mind strikes out truth by collision', he wrote, 'as steel strikes fire from the flint'. He argued that pure rationality was, in fact, a form of irrationality, because it was lifeless and inhuman. In this he is quintessentially Romantic: he valued energy and spontaneity; he lothed any attempt to deny the importance of the emotions as a vital, defining part of existence.'
later Ley writes:
'he was fascinated by the way character informed opinion. When he addresses his subjects he is looking to understand not only their ideas but also their psychology.'
In other words, a very interesting person.
So here are my first attempts at discovering more:
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