“The selective instinct of the artist tells him when his language should be homely, and when it should be more elevated; and it is precisely in the imperceptible blending of the plain with the ornate that a great writer is distinguished. He uses the simplest phrases without triviality, and the grandest without a suggestion of grandiloquence.” ShouldUseArtistLanguageInstinctPhrasesSuggestionsSimplestDistinguishedGreat WritersSelectiveTrivialityHomely Book:The Principles of Success in Literature Source: The Principles of Success in Literature
“Whatever you believe to be true and false, that proclaim to be true and false; whatever you think admirable and beautiful, that should be your model, even if all your friends and all the critics storm at you as a crotchet-monger and an eccentric.” IfsThinkingShouldBelieveBeautifulModelsCriticsStormBeing TrueAdmirableEccentricTrue And False Book:The Principles of Success in Literature Source: The Principles of Success in Literature
“It will often be a question when a man is or is not wise in advancing unpalatable opinions, or in preaching heresies; but it can never be a question that a man should be silent if unprepared to speak the truth as he conceives it.” IfsMenShouldSpeakOpinionWiseSilentPreachingHeresySpeak The TruthAdvancingOften IsUnprepared Author:George Henry Lewes
“The moral nature of man is more sacred in my eyes than his intellectual nature. I know they cannot be divorced - that without intelligence we should be brutes - but it is the tendency of our gaping, wondering dispositions to give pre-eminence to those faculties which most astonish us. Strength of character seldom, if ever, astonishes; goodness, lovingness, and quiet self-sacrifice, are worth all the talents in the world.” IfsKnowsMenWorldGivingShouldSelfCharacterEyeWonderMoralSacrificeTalentQuietGoodnessIntellectualSacredTendenciesFacultyDispositionDivorcedBrutesSelf SacrificeStrength Of CharacterNature Of ManEminence Author:George Henry Lewes
“I have always considered The Merry Wives one of the worst plays, if not altogether the worst, that Shakespeare has left us. The wit for the most part is dreary or foolish; the tone is coarse and farcical; and the characters want the fine distinctive touches he so well knew how to give. If some luckless wight had written such a comedy in our time, I should like to see what the critics would say to it?” IfsWantGivingShouldWellsPlayCharacterLeftComedyWifeWrittenWorstFineCriticsFoolishWitToneOur TimeMerryDistinctiveDrearyCoarse Book:Dramatic Essays Source: Dramatic Essays
“In urging all writers to be steadfast in reliance on the ultimate victory of excellence, we should no less strenuously urge upon them to beware of the intemperate arrogance which attributes failure to a degraded condition of the public mind. The instinct which leads the world to worship success is not dangerous. The book which succeeds accomplishes its aim. The book which fails may have many excellencies, but they must have been misdirected.” WorldShouldMindMayHas BeensBookFailingConditionsDangerousVictorySucceedWorshipUltimateAimExcellenceInstinctAccomplishArroganceUrgesAttributesRelianceSteadfast Book:The Principles of Success in Literature Source: The Principles of Success in Literature
