The deepest quality of a work of art will always be the quality of the mind of the producer...No good novel will ever proceed from a superficial mind.
Henry JamesRead
Never say you know the last word about any human heart.
Interpretation
Human emotions and hearts are complex and ever-changing, making it impossible to fully understand them.
Henry James highlights the intricacy and unpredictability of human emotions, suggesting that one can never claim to completely understand or define the depths of another person's feelings. This statement encourages humility in our judgments about others and reminds us that every individual's inner life is rich and nuanced, often beyond our comprehension.
In practice
During a discussion about emotional intelligence and relationships, this quote can illustrate the complexity of understanding others.
The deepest quality of a work of art will always be the quality of the mind of the producer...No good novel will ever proceed from a superficial mind.
What is character but the determination of incident? What is incident but the illustration of character?
I adore adverbs; they are the only qualifications I really much respect.
We care what happens to people only in proportion as we know what people are.
A swift carriage, of a dark night, rattling with four horses over roads that one canβt see--thatβs my idea of happiness.
Of course what he most intensely dreams of is being taken out on walks, and the more you are able to indulge him the more will he adore you and the more all the latent beauty of his nature will come out.
Hardly a man in the world has an opinion upon morals, political, or religion which he got otherwise than through his associations and sympathies.
Men become civilized, not in proportion to their willingness to believe, but in their readiness to doubt.
It is a profoundly erroneous truism, repeated by all copy books and by eminent people when they are making speeches, that we should cultivate the habit of thinking of what we are doing. The precise opposite is the case. Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them.
I had, by thirteen, developed a sort of Taoist hubris about my ability to control via non-control.
Not just in China, but everywhere in the world without exception, one either leans to the side of imperialism or the side of socialism. Neutrality is mere camouflage; a third road does not exist.
If Zen has any preference it is for glass that is plain, has no color, and is "just glass."
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