In American, the gentlemen obey the ladies.
Henry James
Gentlemen, Obedience, Tradition, Authority, Respect, Society
Henry James’s Quotes On Topics
Intelligence | Elegance | Conscience | Harmony | Present Focus | Discomfort | Affection | Sensibility | Heartbreak Loss | Expectations | Faded Rosebud | Philosophy | High Aspirations | Humility | Ignorance | Chance | Lingering | Life Realization | Social Pressure | Patience Rewarded | More
More Henry James Quotes
“There are no themes so human as those that reflect the closeness of bliss to bale.” Henry James
Bliss And Bale, Human Themes, Emotional Contrast, Life Reflections, Joy And Pain, Deep Truths
Henry James Bliss And Bale, Human Themes, Emotional Contrast, Life Reflections, Joy And Pain, Deep Truths“What should one do with the misery of the world in a scheme of the agreeable for one’s self?” Henry James
Emotional Burden, Personal Happiness, World’s Misery, Perspective, Relief, Scheme
Henry James Emotional Burden, Personal Happiness, World’s Misery, Perspective, Relief, Scheme“The main object of the novel is to represent life. The success of a work of art, to my mind, may be measured by the degree to which it produces a certain illusion; that illusion makes it appear to us for the time that we have lived another life - that we have had a miraculous enlargement of experience.” Henry James
Art, Illusion, Reflection, Narrative, Life, Experience
Henry James Art, Illusion, Reflection, Narrative, Life, Experience“I would give all I possess to get out of myself; but somehow, at the end, I find myself so vastly more interesting than nine tenths of the people I meet.” Henry James
Self-Fascination, Introspective Value, Fascination, Value, Self, Introspective
Henry James Self-Fascination, Introspective Value, Fascination, Value, Self, Introspective“If the artist is necessarily sensitive, does that sensitiveness form in its essence a state constantly liable to shade off into the morbid? Does this liability, moreover, increase in proportion as the effort is great and the ambition intense?” Henry James
Artistic Sensitivity, Creative Challenges, Ambition Impact, Emotional Depth, Morbid Tendencies, Artistic Effort
Henry James Artistic Sensitivity, Creative Challenges, Ambition Impact, Emotional Depth, Morbid Tendencies, Artistic Effort“We were alone with the quiet day, and his little heart, dispossessed, had stopped.” Henry James
Quiet Loss, Heartfelt Stillness, Alone, Quiet, Loss, Heart
Henry James Quiet Loss, Heartfelt Stillness, Alone, Quiet, Loss, Heart“I’ve thought of you perpetually, ever since I last saw you. I’m exactly the same. I love you just as much, and everything I said to you then is just as true.” Henry James
Eternal Love, Unchanging Devotion, Memory, Connection, Passion
Henry James Eternal Love, Unchanging Devotion, Memory, Connection, Passion“She is like a revolving lighthouse; pitch darkness alternating with a dazzling brilliancy!” Henry James
Emotional Extremes, Unpredictability, Luminosity, Intensity, Contrast, Vulnerability
Henry James Emotional Extremes, Unpredictability, Luminosity, Intensity, Contrast, Vulnerability“In museums and palaces we are alternate radicals and conservatives.” Henry James
Historical Study, Art Appreciation, Cultural Reflection, Tradition, Curiosity, Exploration
Henry James Historical Study, Art Appreciation, Cultural Reflection, Tradition, Curiosity, Exploration“Ah, one doesn’t give up one’s country any more than one gives UP one’s grandmother. They’re both antecedent to choice – elements of one’s composition that are not to be eliminated.” Henry James
Unyielding Roots, National Bond, Roots, Bond, National, Unyielding
Henry James Unyielding Roots, National Bond, Roots, Bond, National, Unyielding“He felt the old bitterness, which he had tried so hard to swallow, rise again in his throat, and he knew there are disappointments that last as long as life.” Henry James
Lingering Bitterness, Life Disappointments, Emotional Burden, Inner Struggle, Long-Lasting Pain, Personal Reflection
Henry James Lingering Bitterness, Life Disappointments, Emotional Burden, Inner Struggle, Long-Lasting Pain, Personal Reflection“Isabel, as she herself grew older, became acquainted with revulsions, with disgusts; there were days when the world looked black and she asked herself with some sharpness what it was that she was pretending to live for.” Henry James
Aging, Emotions, Reflection, Disillusionment, Growth, Identity
Henry James Aging, Emotions, Reflection, Disillusionment, Growth, Identity“In a play, certainly, the subject is of more importance than in any other work of art. Infelicity, triviality, vagueness of subject, may be outweighed in a poem, a novel, or a picture, by charm of manner, by ingenuity of execution; but in a drama the subject is of the essence of the work-it is the work. If it is feeble, the work can have no force; if it is shapeless, the work must be amorphous.” Henry James
Dramatic Focus, Subject Matter, Intensity, Structure, Impact
Henry James Dramatic Focus, Subject Matter, Intensity, Structure, Impact“I welcomed the consciousness that I was charged with much to do, and I caused it to be known as well that, left thus to myself, I was quite remarkably firm.” Henry James
Responsibility, Leadership, Reflection, Independence, Strength, Determination
Henry James Responsibility, Leadership, Reflection, Independence, Strength, Determination“Until you try, you don’t know what you can’t do.” Henry James
Trial And Error, Hidden Potential, Trial, Potential, Error, Hidden
Henry James Trial And Error, Hidden Potential, Trial, Potential, Error, Hidden“The critical sense is so far from frequent that it is absolutely rare, and the possession of the cluster of qualities that minister to it is one of the highest distinctions... In this light one sees the critic as the real helper of the artist, a torchbearing outrider, the interpreter, the brother... Just in proportion as he is sentient and restless, just in proportion as he reacts and reciprocates and penetrates, is the critic a valuable instrument.” Henry James
Criticism, Rarity, Distinction, Perception, Interpretation, Collaboration
Henry James Criticism, Rarity, Distinction, Perception, Interpretation, Collaboration“The will, I believe, is the mystery of mysteries. Who can say beforehand that his will is strong? There are all kinds of indefinable currents moving to and fro between one’s will and one’s inclinations. People talk as if the two things were essentially distinct; on different sides of one’s organism, like the heart and the liver. I believe there is a certain group of circumstances possible for every man, in which his will is destined to snap like a dry twig.” Henry James
Willpower, Mystery, Determination, Strength, Circumstances, Snap
Henry James Willpower, Mystery, Determination, Strength, Circumstances, Snap“But it was as if I had been looking at him for years and had known him always.” Henry James
Time, Familiarity, Knowing, Presence, Perception, Observation
Henry James Time, Familiarity, Knowing, Presence, Perception, Observation“His secretary of many years’ standing, Theodora Bosanquet, was struck by this persistent aspect of the Jamesian sensibility: ‘When he walked out of the refuge of his study and into the world and looked about him, he saw a place of torment, where creatures of prey perpetually thrust their claws into the quivering flesh of the doomed, defenceless children of light.” Henry James
Jamesian Vision, Emotional Torment, Narrative Insight, Sensibility, Reflection, Perspective
Henry James Jamesian Vision, Emotional Torment, Narrative Insight, Sensibility, Reflection, Perspective“They might in short have represented any mystery they would; the point being predominantly that the key to the mystery, the key that could wind and unwind it without a snap of the spring, was there in her pocket – or rather, no doubt, clasped at this crisis in her hand and pressed, as she walked back and forth, to her breast.” Henry James
Enigmatic Power, Hidden Depth, Mystery, Control, Clarity
Henry James Enigmatic Power, Hidden Depth, Mystery, Control, Clarity