 Sincerity is not only effective and honourable, it is also much less difficult than is commonly supposed. |
| The delusions of self-love cannot be prevented, but intellectual misconceptions as to the means of achieving success may be corrected. |
| We must never assume that which is incapable of proof. |
| Many a genius has been slow of growth. Oaks that flourish for a thousand years do not spring up into beauty like a reed. |
| Genius is rarely able to give any account of its own processes. |
| All bad Literature rests upon imperfect insight, or upon imitation, which may be defined as seeing at second-hand. |
| Ordinary men live among marvels and feel no wonder, grow familiar with objects and learn nothing new about them. |
| Sincerity is moral truth. |
| Personal experience is the basis of all real Literature. |
| Books have become our dearest companions, yielding exquisite delights and inspiring lofty aims. |
| Originality is independence, not rebellion; it is sincerity, not antagonism. |
| The object of Literature is to instruct, to animate, or to amuse. |
| Language, after all, is only the use of symbols, and Art also can only affect us through symbols. |
| Murder, like talent, seems occasionally to run in families. |
| Science is the systematic classification of experience. |
| Imagination is not the exclusive appanage of artists, but belongs in varying degrees to all men. |
| Insight is the first condition of Art. |
| Endeavour to be faithful, and if there is any beauty in your thought, your style will be beautiful; if there is any real emotion to express, the expression will be moving. |
| Good writers are of necessity rare. |
| As all Art depends on Vision, so the different kinds of Art depend on the different ways in which minds look at things. |
