“Don’t underestimate the value of irony—it is extremely valuable.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“do you think it is
better to be clever than to be good?”
“Good for what?” asked the Doctor. “You are good for
nothing unless you are clever.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“You think too much.'
'I suppose I do; but I can’t help it, my mind is so terribly active. When I give myself, I give myself. I pay the penalty in my headaches, my famous headaches--a perfect circlet of pain! But I carry it as a queen carries her crown.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“You are good for nothing unless you are clever.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“if you are going to be pushed you had better jump”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“Besides, he was a philosopher; he smoked a good many cigars over his disappointment, and in the
fulness of time he got used to it.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“... since she might not be splendid, she would at least be immaculate.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“... he escaped all criticism but his own, which was much the most competent and most formidable.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“Oh," said Catherine, with some eagerness, "it doesn't take long to like a person—when once you begin.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“Poor Catherine's dignity was not aggressive; it never sat in state; but if you pushed far enough you could find it. Her father had pushed very far.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“She is like a revolving lighthouse; pitch darkness alternating with a dazzling brilliancy!”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“To her mind there was nothing of the infinite about Mrs. Penniman; Catherine saw her all at once, as it were, and was not dazzled by the apparition; whereas her father's great faculties seemed, as they stretched away, to lose themselves in a sort of luminous vagueness, which indicated, not that they stopped, but that Catherine's own mind ceased to follow them.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“Catherine had not understood all that she said; her attention was given to enjoying Marian’s ease of manner and flow of ideas.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“Catherine, who was extremely modest, had no desire to shine, and on most social occasions, as they are called, you would have found her lurking in the background.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“... was after all a rather mature blossom, such as could be plucked from the stem only by a vigorous jerk.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“Mrs. Penniman always, even in conversation, italicised her personal pronouns.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“Nevertheless, he had offered her a home under his own roof, which Lavinia accepted with the alacrity of a woman who had spent the ten years of her married life in the town of Poughkeepsie.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“This purpose had not been preponderantly to make money--it had been rather to learn something and to do something. To learn something interesting, and to do something useful--this was, roughly speaking, the programme he had sketched, and of which the accident of his wife having an income appeared to him in no degree to modify the validity.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“Some three or four years before this Dr. Sloper had moved his household gods up town, as they say in New York. He had been living ever since his marriage in an edifice of red brick, with granite copings and an enormous fanlight over the door, standing in a street within five minutes' walk of the City Hall, which saw its best days (from the social point of view) about 1820. After this, the tide of fashion began to set steadily northward, as, indeed, in New York, thanks to the narrow channel in which it flows, it is obliged to do, and the great hum of traffic rolled farther to the right and left of Broadway.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“The ideal of quiet and of genteel retirement, in 1835, was found in Washington Square, where the Doctor built himself a handsome, modern, wide-fronted house, with a big balcony before the drawing-room windows, and a flight of marble steps ascending to a portal which was also faced with white marble. This structure, and many of its neighbours, which it exactly resembled, were supposed, forty years ago, to embody the last results of architectural science, and they remain to this day very solid and honourable dwellings. In front of them was the Square, containing a considerable quantity of inexpensive vegetation, enclosed by a wooden paling, which increased its rural and accessible appearance; and round the corner was the more august precinct of the Fifth Avenue, taking its origin at this point with a spacious and confident air which already marked it for high destinies. I know not whether it is owing to the tenderness of early associations, but this portion of New York appears to many persons the most delectable. It has a kind of established repose which is not of frequent occurrence in other quarters of the long, shrill city; it has a riper, richer, more honourable look than any of the upper ramifications of the great longitudinal thoroughfare—the look of having had something of a social history.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“Mrs. Almond lived much farther up town, in an embryonic street with a high number—a region where the extension of the city began to assume a theoretic air, where poplars grew beside the pavement (when there was one), and mingled their shade with the steep roofs of desultory Dutch houses, and where pigs and chickens disported themselves in the gutter. These elements of rural picturesqueness have now wholly departed from New York street scenery; but they were to be found within the memory of middle-aged persons, in quarters which now would blush to be reminded of them.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“... there was something superior even in his injustice, and absolute in his mistakes.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“And much addicted to speaking the truth. In her younger years she was a good deal of a romp, and, though it is an awkward confession to make about one's heroine, I must add that she was something of a glutton.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
“Her aunt seemed to her aggressive and foolish, and to see it so clearly—to judge Mrs. Penniman so positively—made her feel old and grave. She did not resent the imputation of weakness; it made no impression on her, for she had not the sense of weakness, and she was not hurt at not being appreciated. She had an immense respect for her father, and she felt that to displease him would be a misdemeanour analogous to an act of profanity in a great temple; but her purpose had slowly ripened, and she believed that her prayers had purified it of its violence.”
― Henry James, quote from Washington Square
Henry James
Born place: in New York, New York, The United States
Born date April 15, 1843
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“La vie de l’avare est un constant exercice de la puissance humaine mise au service de la personnalité. Il ne s’appuie que sur deux sentiments : l’amour-propre et l’intérêt ; mais l’intérêt étant en quelque sorte l’amour- propre solide et bien entendu, l’attestation continue d’une supériorité réelle, l’amour-propre et l’intérêt sont deux parties d’un même tout, l’égoïsme.”
― Honoré de Balzac, quote from Eugénie Grandet
“You're important," Nicholas interrupted quietly catching her face and turning her to peer at him. "You're the most important thing in the world to me Jo. I love you. Let me have this moment.”
― Lynsay Sands, quote from The Renegade Hunter
“Romans 14 The Danger of Criticism 1 Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. 2 For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. 3 Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval. 5 In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. 6 Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God. 7 For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. 8 If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 Christ died and rose again for this very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and of the dead. 10 So why do you condemn another believer[*]? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the LORD, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.[*]’” 12 Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. 13 So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall. 14 I know and am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. 15 And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don’t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. 16 Then you will not be criticized for doing something you believe is good. 17 For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. 19 So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. 20 Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble.[*] 22 You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. 23 But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.[*]”
― quote from Holy Bible: New Living Translation
“I think too much, and 99.9 per cent of men don’t want to get involved with a woman who thinks too much.”
― Zhou Weihui, quote from Shanghai Baby
“Colin : “Perhaps now is the time to tell you that I have a weakness for agreeable women.”
Sugar Beth : “Well, that sure does leave me out.”
Colin : “Exactly. With agreeable women, I’m unendingly considerate. Gallant even.”
Sugar Beth : “But with tarts like me, the gloves are off, is that it?”
Colin : “I wouldn’t exactly call you a tart. But then, I tend to be broad-minded.”
She suppressed the urge to dump her porridge in his lap.”
― Susan Elizabeth Phillips, quote from Ain't She Sweet
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