The only obligation to which in advance we may hold a novel, without incurring the accusation of being arbitrary, is that it be interesting.

Quote by Henry James

Topics: Henry James Quotes

True happiness, we are told, consists in getting out of one's self, but the point...

True happiness, we are told, consists in getting out of one's self, but the point...

I think I don't regret a single 'excess' of my responsive youth - I only...

I think I don't regret a single 'excess' of my responsive youth - I only...

The superiority of one man's opinion over another's is never so great as when the...

The superiority of one man's opinion over another's is never so great as when the...

Life is a predicament which precedes death.

Life is a predicament which precedes death.

The only reason for the existence of a novel is that it does attempt to...

The only reason for the existence of a novel is that it does attempt to...

I've always been interested in people, but I've never liked them.

I've always been interested in people, but I've never liked them.

Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second...

Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second...

I think I don't regret a single 'excess' of my responsive youth-I only regret, in...

I think I don't regret a single 'excess' of my responsive youth-I only regret, in...

Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about anyone else. Judge everyone and everything...

Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about anyone else. Judge everyone and everything...

Though there are some disagreeable things in Venice there is nothing so disagreeable as the...

Though there are some disagreeable things in Venice there is nothing so disagreeable as the...

Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second...

Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second...

One might enumerate the items of high civilization, as it exists in other countries, which...

One might enumerate the items of high civilization, as it exists in other countries, which...

I hate American simplicity. I glory in the piling up of complications of every sort....

I hate American simplicity. I glory in the piling up of complications of every sort....

It's a complex fate, being an American, and one of the responsibilities it entails is...

It's a complex fate, being an American, and one of the responsibilities it entails is...

Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will...

Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will...

I adore adverbs; they are the only qualifications I really much respect.

I adore adverbs; they are the only qualifications I really much respect.

Ideas are, in truth, force.

Ideas are, in truth, force.

Cats and monkeys; monkeys and cats; all human life is there.

Cats and monkeys; monkeys and cats; all human life is there.

If I were to live my life over again, I would be an American. I...

If I were to live my life over again, I would be an American. I...

It is art that makes life, makes interest, makes importance... and I know of no...

It is art that makes life, makes interest, makes importance... and I know of no...