'A single shelf of a good European library is worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia.' This statement is

Ranking one European shelf above all Indian and Arabic literature is a reactionary judgement.

The claim rests on no measure or evidence of literary worth.

It dismisses whole civilisational traditions out of a biased, backward-looking stance.

Such contempt for others' heritage voices reaction, not analysis.

A sweeping, disdainful value-verdict of this kind is reactionary.