(1843–1916)
U.S.-born English novelist, playwright, short story writer, and literary critic
Henry James
Take things more easily. Don’t ask yourself so much whether this or that is good for you. Don’t question your conscience so much—it will get out of tune like a strummed piano. Keep it for great occasions. Don’t try so much to form your character—it’s like trying to pull open a tight, tender young rose. Live as you like best, and your character will take care of itself.
The Portrait of a Lady (New York: Bantam, 2007), [Bantam Classic reissue], 223.
We work in the dark—we do what we can—we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art.
“The Middle Years,” in Scribner’s Magazine, May 1893, 609–620.
Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.
Recounted by Edith Wharton in A Backward Glance (New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1934), 249.