Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM15 April 1843 – 28 February 1916) was an American-born writer. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr. and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth15 April 1843
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
spiritual journey might
Things are always different from what they might be.
depth over-it knows
No, no—there are depths, depths! The more I go over it, the more I see in it, and the more I see in it, the more I fear. I don’t know what I don’t see—what I don’t fear!
autumn light sky
It was the way the autumn day looked into the high windows as it waned; the way the red light, breaking at the close from under a low sombre sky, reached out in a long shaft and played over old wainscots, old tapestry, old gold, old colour.
stupid thinking suffering
To live only to suffer—only to feel the injury of life repeated and enlarged—it seemed to her she was too valuable, too capable, for that. Then she wondered if it were vain and stupid to think so well of herself. When had it even been a guarantee to be valuable? Wasn't all history full of the destruction of precious things? Wasn't it much more probable that if one were fine one would suffer?
smile phrases scratches
..her smile, which was her pretty feature, was never so pretty as when her sprightly phrase had a scratch lurking in it.
rivers blue fiction
She took refuge on the firm ground of fiction, through which indeed there curled the blue river of truth.
mistake opportunity hands
She had an unequalled gift, usually pen in hand, of squeezing big mistakes into opportunities.
laughter long should
...he had long decided that abundant laughter should be the embellishment of the remainder of his days.
horse dark night
A swift carriage, of a dark night, rattling with four horses over roads that one can’t see--that’s my idea of happiness.
waiting different might
Things are always different than what they might be...If you wait for them to change, you will never do anything.
dream strong believe
Life is, in fact, a battle. Evil is insolent and strong; beauty enchanting, but rare; goodness very apt to be weak; folly very apt to be defiant; wickedness to carry the day; imbeciles to be in great places, people of sense in small, and mankind generally unhappy. But the world as it stands is no narrow illusion, no phantasm, no evil dream of the night; we wake up to it, forever and ever; and we can neither forget it nor deny it nor dispense with it.
fool aberration born
It's never permitted to be surprised at the aberrations of born fools.
cousin your-cousin ought
I ought to tell you I'm probably your cousin.
book library subscription
The women one meets - what are they but books one has already read? You're a library of the unknown, the uncut. Upon my word I've a subscription.