Quotes By George Henry Lewes

Books have become our dearest companions, yielding exquisite delights and inspiring lofty aims.

When a man fails to see the truth of certain generally accepted views, there is no law compelling him to provoke animosity by announcing his dissent.

Sincerity is moral truth.

Literature is at once the cause and the effect of social progress.

Science is the systematic classification of experience.

Language, after all, is only the use of symbols, and Art also can only affect us through symbols.

The public can only be really moved by what is genuine.

Ordinary men live among marvels and feel no wonder, grow familiar with objects and learn nothing new about them.

The superiority of one mind over another depends on the rapidity with which experiences are thus organised.

All good Literature rests primarily on insight.

Imagination is not the exclusive appanage of artists, but belongs in varying degrees to all men.

Speak for yourself and from yourself, or be silent.

As all Art depends on Vision, so the different kinds of Art depend on the different ways in which minds look at things.

No man was ever eloquent by trying to be eloquent, but only by being so.

In all sincere speech there is power, not necessarily great power, but as much as the speaker is capable of.

The delusions of self-love cannot be prevented, but intellectual misconceptions as to the means of achieving success may be corrected.

Many a genius has been slow of growth. Oaks that flourish for a thousand years do not spring up into beauty like a reed.

The object of Literature is to instruct, to animate, or to amuse.

Good writers are of necessity rare.

In complex trains of thought signs are indispensable.

All great authors are seers.

Philosophy and Art both render the invisible visible by imagination.

The only cure for grief is action.

If you feel yourself to be above the mass, speak so as to raise the mass to the height of your argument.

Insincerity is always weakness; sincerity even in error is strength.

All bad Literature rests upon imperfect insight, or upon imitation, which may be defined as seeing at second-hand.

Sincerity is not only effective and honourable, it is also much less difficult than is commonly supposed.

We must never assume that which is incapable of proof.

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.

A man may be variously accomplished, and yet be a feeble poet.