Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by George Henry Lewes

Quote by George Henry Lewes

“If a work of art is placed before me, I believe I can enjoy it; but I do not overlook the fact, that Art is one thing, another thing Amusement; and that people do like amusements, and will run after it.”

Quote by George Henry Lewes

Create image

Author

George Henry Lewes
George Henry Lewes

George Henry Lewes was a British philosopher, literary critic, and writer. Born on April 18, 1817, and died on November 28, 1878, Lewes is known for his contributions to moral philosophy, aesthetics, and literary criticism. more

You May Also Like

“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
Create image

“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
Create image

“Whatever lies beyond the limits of experience, and claims another origin than that of induction and deduction from established data, is illegitimate.”

LyingPrinciplesLimitsClaimsDataDeductions
Book:Problems of Life and Mind: The method of science and its application to metaphysics. The rules of philosophising. Psychological principles. The limitations of knowledge
Create image

“"There is one basis of science," says Descartes, "one test and rule of truth, namely, that whatever is clearly and distinctly conceived is true." A profound psychological mistake. It is true only of formal logic, wherein the mind never quits the sphere of its first assumptions to pass out into the sphere of real existences; no sooner does the mind pass from the internal order to the external order, than the necessity of verifying the strict correspondence between the two becomes absolute. The Ideal Test must be supplemented by the Real Test, to suit the new conditions of the problem.”

MindFirstsDoeTwoRealProblemOrderExistenceMistakeConditionsIdealsTestsLogicBasesAbsolutesProfoundQuittingPsychologicalSuitsAssumptionInternalsSpheresFormalStrictNever QuitCorrespondence
Author:George Henry Lewes
Create image

“Roger_Bacon" title="Roger Bacon">Roger Bacon expressed a feeling which afterwards moved many minds, when he said that if he had the power he would burn all the works of the Stagirite, since the study of them was not simply loss of time, but multiplication of ignorance. Yet in spite of this outbreak every page is studded with citations from Aristotle, of whom he everywhere speaks in the highest admiration.”

IfsMindSaidFeelingsSpeakLossStudyIgnoranceHighestPagesMovedSpiteAdmirationRogerMultiplicationOutbreaksCitations
Author:George Henry Lewes
Create image

“Roger Bacon, a disciple of the Arabs, also insisted on the primary necessity of Mathematics, without which no other science can be known; yet by Mathematics it is clear that he meant something very different from what we mean, including under that head even dancing, singing, gesticulation, and performance on musical instruments.”

MeanDifferentKnownClearSingingPerformancesMathematicsInstrumentsDancingMusicalIncludingPrimariesDiscipleRogerMusical Instruments
Book:The History of Philosophy from Thales to Comte
Create image

“Science as we now understand the word is of later birth. If its germinal origin may be traced to the early period when Observation, Induction, and Deduction were first employed, its birth must be referred to that comparatively recent period when the mind, rejecting the primitive tendency to seek in supernatural agencies for an explanation of all external phenomena, endeavoured, by a systematic investigation of the phenomena themselves to discover their invariable order and connection.”

IfsMindFirstsMayOrderBirthPeriodsConnectionsTendenciesObservationExplanationAgencyInvestigationPrimitiveEmployedSystematicRejectingDeductions
Book:Aristotle: a chapter from the history of science including analyses of Aristotle's scientific writings
Create image

“The separation of Science from Knowledge was effected step by step as the Subjective Method was replaced by the Objective Method: i.e., when in each inquiry the phenomena of external nature ceased to be interpreted on premisses suggested by the analogies of human nature.”

HumansStepsHuman NatureMethodSeparationObjectivesReplacedInquirySubjectiveAnalogies
Book:Aristotle: A Chapter from the History of Science, Including Analyses of Aristotle's Scientific Writings
Create image