We must know, as much as possible, in our beautiful art…what we are talking about and the only way to know is to have lived and loved and cursed and floundered and enjoyed and suffered.
HENRY JAMESWe must know, as much as possible, in our beautiful art…what we are talking about and the only way to know is to have lived and loved and cursed and floundered and enjoyed and suffered.
HENRY JAMESTo live in the world of creation-to get into it and stay in it-to frequent it and haunt it…to think intently and fruitfully, to woo combinations and inspirations into being by a depth and continuity of attention and meditation-this is the only thing.
HENRY JAMESHer imagination was by habit ridiculously active; when the door was not open it jumped out the window.
HENRY JAMESIt is no wonder he wins every game. He has never done a thing in his life exept play games
HENRY JAMESDon’t try so much to form your character – it’s like trying to pull open a tight, tender young rose.
HENRY JAMESI take up my own pen again – the pen of all my old unforgettable efforts and sacred struggles.
HENRY JAMESLove has nothing to do with good reasons.
HENRY JAMESDon’t pass it by – the immediate, the real, the ours, the yours, the novelist’s that it waits for.
HENRY JAMESThere’s no more usual basis of union than mutual misunderstanding.
HENRY JAMESIt is difficult to speak adequately or justly of London. It is not a pleasant place; it is not agreeable, or cheerful, or easy, or exempt from reproach. It is only magnificent.
HENRY JAMESTo take what there is in life and use it, without waiting forever in vain for the preconceived, to dig deep into the actual and get something out of that; this, doubtless, is the right way to live.
HENRY JAMESEvery good story is of course both a picture and an idea, and the more they are interfused the better.
HENRY JAMESTrue happiness, we are told, consists in getting out of one’s self; but the point is not only to get out – you must stay out; and to stay out you must have some absorbing errand.
HENRY JAMESDeep experience is never peaceful.
HENRY JAMESWe work in the dark – we do what we can – we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art.
HENRY JAMESInnocent and infinite are the pleasures of observation.
HENRY JAMES