George Henry Lewes

To write much, and to write rapidly, are empty boasts. The world desires to know what you have done, and not how…

— George Henry Lewes

Character is built out of circumstances. From exactly the same materials, one man builds palaces, while another builds hovels.

— George Henry Lewes

In the air we breathe, in the water we drink, in the earth we tread on, Life is every where. Nature lives:…

— George Henry Lewes

In Science the paramount appeal is to the Intellect-its purpose being instruction; in Art, the paramount appeal is to the Emotions-its purpose…

— George Henry Lewes

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

— George Henry Lewes

In its happiest efforts, translation is but approximation, and its efforts are not often happy. A translation may be good as translation,…

— George Henry Lewes

To his [ Plato's ] great disappointment, he found Anaxagoras adducing simple physical reasons, instead of the teleological reasons, which he had…

— George Henry Lewes

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

— George Henry Lewes

If the members of a class do not understand -- if those directly addressed fail to listen, or listening, fail to recognize…

— George Henry Lewes

To love is for the Soul to choose a companion, and travel with it along the perilous defiles and winding ways of…

— George Henry Lewes

The art of writing is not, as many seem to imagine, the art of bringing fine phrases into rhythmical order, but the…

— George Henry Lewes

The selective instinct of the artist tells him when his language should be homely, and when it should be more elevated; and…

— George Henry Lewes

The mathematician who is without value to mathematicians, the thinker who is obscure or meaningless to thinkers, the dramatist who fails to…

— George Henry Lewes

He who is ignorant of Motion, says Aristotle , is necessarily ignorant of all natural things. ...Not only was he entirely in…

— 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,…

— George Henry Lewes

Over the meeting of the lovers I draw a veil. The burst of rapture with which they clasped each other in a…

— George Henry Lewes

The opinion of the majority is not lightly to be rejected; but neither is it to be carelessly echoed.

— George Henry Lewes

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

— George Henry Lewes

Shakespeare is a good raft whereon to float securely down the stream of time; fasten yourself to that and your immortality is…

— George Henry Lewes

The great desire of this age is for a doctrine which may serve to condense our knowledge, guide our researches, and shape…

— George Henry Lewes

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

— George Henry Lewes

Remember that every drop of rain that falls bears into the bosom of the earth a quality of beautiful fertility.

— George Henry Lewes

When a man fails to see the truth of certain generally accepted views, there is no law compelling him to provoke animosity…

— George Henry Lewes

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

— George Henry Lewes

Individual experiences being limited and individual spontaneity feeble, we are strengthened and enriched by assimilating the experience of others.

— George Henry Lewes

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

— George Henry Lewes

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

— George Henry Lewes

Roger Bacon, a disciple of the Arabs, also insisted on the primary necessity of Mathematics, without which no other science can be…

— George Henry Lewes

A man may be buoyed up by the efflation of his wild desires to brave any imaginable peril; but he cannot calmly…

— George Henry Lewes