Henry James Quotes about Literature
Adjectives are the sugar of literature and adverbs the salt.
Henry James (2016). “Henry James: Autobiographies: A Small Boy and Others / Notes of a Son and Brother / The Middle Years / Other Writings: Library of America #274”, p.1142, Library of America
Money's a horrid thing to follow, but a charming thing to meet.
1881 Gilbert Osmond. The Portrait of a Lady, ch.35.
It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.
Hawthorne ch. 1 (1879)
1890 The Tragic Muse, ch.9.
An Englishman's never so natural as when he's holding his tongue.
1881 Isabel Archer. The Portrait of a Lady, ch.10.
It takes an endless amount of history to make even a little tradition.
Henry James (1993). “Collected Travel Writings: Great Britain and America”, p.495, Library of America
I hold any writer sufficiently justified who is himself in love with his theme.
Henry James (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Henry James (Illustrated)”, p.11956, Delphi Classics
To kill a human being is, after all, the least injury you can do him.
'My Friend Bingham' (short story, 1867)
Henry James (1984). “Literary Criticism: French writers. Other European writers. The prefaces to the New York edition”, p.681, Library of America
Henry James (1996). “Complete Stories, 1892-1898”, p.496, Library of America
