Quotes By George Henry Lewes

The only cure for grief is action.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

The true function of philosophy is to educate us in the principles of reasoning and not to put an end to further reasoning by the introduction of fixed conclusions.

Originality is independence, not rebellion; it is sincerity, not antagonism.

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

Insight is the first condition of Art.

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.

Good writers are of necessity rare.

Murder, like talent, seems occasionally to run in families.

Genius is rarely able to give any account of its own processes.

Philosophy and Art both render the invisible visible by imagination.

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

Sincerity is moral truth.

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

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

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

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.

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

Books minister to our knowledge, to our guidance, and to our delight, by their truth, their uprightness, and their art.

All good Literature rests primarily on insight.

Science is not addressed to poets.