“Intelligent, unscrupulous, determined, and capable of seeing a man strangled without changing color.”
― Henry James, quote from The American
“The truth is that circumstances had done much to cultivate in Mrs. Tristram a marked tendency to irony. Her taste on many points differed from that of her husband, and though she made frequent concessions it must be confessed that her concessions were not always graceful. They were founded upon a vague project she had of some day doing something very positive, something a trifle passionate. What she meant to do she could by no means have told you; but meanwhile, nevertheless, she was buying a good conscience, by installments.”
― Henry James, quote from The American
“One's theories, after all, matter little, it is one's humor that is the great thing.”
― Henry James, quote from The American
“He himself was almost never bored, and there was no man with whom it would have been a greater mistake to suppose that silence meant displeasure.”
― Henry James, quote from The American
“The church was simply the former chapel of the castle, fronting upon its grass-grown court, which, however, was of generous enough width to have given up its quaintest corner to a little graveyard. Here the very headstones themselves seemed to sleep, as they slanted into the grass.”
― Henry James, quote from The American
“When you are embarrassed, do as you think best, and you will do very well. When you are in a difficulty, judge for yourself.”
― Henry James, quote from The American
“You will think you take generous views of her; but you will never begin to know through what a strange sea of feeling she passed before she accepted you. As she stood there in front of you the other day, she plunged into it. She said 'Why not?' to something which, a few hours earlier, had been inconceivable. She turned about on a thousand gathered prejudices and traditions as on a pivot, and looked where she had never looked hitherto.”
― Henry James, quote from The American
“He was holding his breath so as not to inhale the odor of democracy.”
― Henry James, quote from The American
“The place suggested a convent with the modern improvements—an asylum in which privacy, though unbroken, might be not quite identical with privation, and meditation, though monotonous, might be of a cheerful cast.”
― Henry James, quote from The American
Henry James
Born place: in New York, New York, The United States
Born date April 15, 1843
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“Lymond said quietly, ‘You had good reason to hate me. I always understood that. I don’t know why you should think differently now, but take care. Don’t build up another false image. I may be the picturesque sufferer now, but when I have the whip-hold, I shall behave quite as crudely, or worse. I have no pretty faults. Only, sometimes, a purpose.’ He paused, and said, ‘Est conformis precedenti. I owe the Somervilles rather a lot already.’ Philippa’s unwinking brown gaze flickered shiftily at the Latin and then steadied.
'I should have told you before. You don’t mind?’
‘If you had told me before, you might not have decided to have me for a friend. I don’t mind,’ said Francis Crawford and told, for once, the bare truth.”
― Dorothy Dunnett, quote from The Disorderly Knights
“Se pregunta si las palabras no serán un elemento esencial de la sexualidad, si hablar no es en definitiva una forma más sutil de acariciar, y si las imágenes que bailan en nuestra cabeza no son igual de importantes que los cuerpos que abrazamos.”
― Paul Auster, quote from Invisible
“I am so sorry. I wish you knew even one tenth of one percent of how sorry I am. ...It was my fault. Can I kill myself here, or should I do it outside, so the mess on your carpet doesn't upset your mother?”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, quote from Twisted
“Umm. Wow. Did it grow? Because it looks bigger."
"Kissin' your red-hot love flower made this stem grow big and hard just for you, baby doll."
AJ managed to meet his eyes. "Love flower?"
"Thought maybe you wanted some kinda sweet-talkin' love words first.”
― Lorelei James, quote from Cowgirl Up and Ride
“It was not, she said, confessing to her husband her sleeplessness, that she was afraid. She was only "keepin' them company, an' haudin' the yett open," she said. The latter phrase was her picture-periphrase for praying. She never said she prayed; she held the gate open.”
― George MacDonald, quote from Sir Gibbie
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Barchester TowersBookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
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