---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Henry James said there isn't any…"
description: "\"“Henry James said there isn't any difference between \"the English novel\" and \"the American novel\" since there are only two kinds of novels at all, the ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/492/eudora-welty-1564_eudora-welty_henry-james-said-there-isn-t-any-differe_2401936.jpg"
---

#  Henry James said there isn't any difference between "the…

![“Henry James said there isn't any difference between &quot;the English novel&quot; and &quot;the American novel&quot; since there are only two kinds of novels at all, the good and the bad.” quote by Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/492/eudora-welty-1564_eudora-welty_henry-james-said-there-isn-t-any-differe_2401936.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/492/eudora-welty-1564_eudora-welty_henry-james-said-there-isn-t-any-differe_2401936.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/492/eudora-welty-1564_eudora-welty_henry-james-said-there-isn-t-any-differe_2401936.jpg)

> ““Henry James said there isn't any difference between "the English novel" and "the American novel" since there are only two kinds of novels at all, the good and the bad.””

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

All novels can be judged as good or bad, regardless of national label.

**In simple terms:** Novels are good or bad.

Key Takeaway

Judge literature by quality, not origin.

Themes

literary criticism quality national identity

Mood

analytical thoughtful

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- book clubs
- academic courses
- writing workshops
- publishing decisions

Key Concepts

literature cultural studies

Questions to Reflect On

- What makes a novel good?
- How does cultural background affect reading?

A Different Perspective

National contexts can influence interpretation and value.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novels/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/)

## Related quotes

> [“I told them this novel was an American classic, in many ways the quintessential American novel. There were other contenders: The Adventures of Huckleberry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/i-told-them-this-novel-was-an-american-classic-in-many-ways-the/)

[Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/)

> [“We do need to bring to our writing, over and over again, all the abundance we possess. To be able, to be ready, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/we-do-need-to-bring-to-our-writing-over-and-over-again-all-the/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“Art, though, is never the voice of a country; it is an even more precious thing, the voice of the individual, doing its best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/art-though-is-never-the-voice-of-a-country-it-is-an-even-more/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“It's all right, I want to say to the students who write to me, for things to be what they appear to be, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/it-s-all-right-i-want-to-say-to-the-students-who-write-to-me-for/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“Fiction shows us the past as well as the present moment in mortal light; it is an art served by the indelibility of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/fiction-shows-us-the-past-as-well-as-the-present-moment-in-mortal/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [My first published novel, 'American Rust,' took three and a half years of full-time work to write. But I wrote two apprentice novels before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/my-first-published-novel-american-rust-took-three-and-a-half-years-of/)

[Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/)

> [I think the novel is the American form because people read it in private, and the only valuable things that happen in America happen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/i-think-the-novel-is-the-american-form-because-people-read-it-in/)

[David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/)

> [“He thought of his own by-now legendary novel, American Disillusionment, that cyclone which, for years, had woven its erratic path across the flatlands of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/he-thought-of-his-own-by-now-legendary-novel-american-disillusionment/)

[Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/)

> [“The other option was to go to the public library. Few people came back from a visit to the library. There was one girl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-fink/the-other-option-was-to-go-to-the-public-library-few-people-came-back/)

[Joseph Fink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-fink/)

> [“It was possible to explore the 'great tradition' of the English novel and believe that in doing so you were addressing questions of fundamental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/it-was-possible-to-explore-the-great-tradition-of-the-english-novel/)

[Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/)

> [“The whole of life did not consist in going to bed with a woman, he thought, returning to Scott and Balzac, to the English…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-whole-of-life-did-not-consist-in-going-to-bed-with-a-woman-he/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [“the English novel is childish because what is desired is not maturity and wisdom but a return to the safety and innocence of childhood—”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/the-english-novel-is-childish-because-what-is-desired-is-not-maturity/)

[Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/)

> [Oh! And they read English novels! David! Did you ever look into an English novel? Well, do not trouble yourself. It is nothing but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanna-clarke/oh-and-they-read-english-novels-david-did-you-ever-look-into-an/)

[Susanna Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanna-clarke/)

> [There is no happiness in love, except at the end of an English novel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/there-is-no-happiness-in-love-except-at-the-end-of-an-english-novel/)

[Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/)

> [“Who would ever think of learning to live out of an English novel?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/who-would-ever-think-of-learning-to-live-out-of-an-english-novel/)

[Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/)

## More by Eudora Welty

> [“She (my mother) could still recite them (the poems) in full when she was lying helpless and nearly blind, in her bed, an old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/she-my-mother-could-still-recite-them-the-poems-in-full-when-she-was/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them. I suppose it’s an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/long-before-i-wrote-stories-i-listened-for-stories-listening-for-them/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [Once you're into a story everything seems to apply-what you overhear on a city bus is exactly what your character would say on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/once-you-re-into-a-story-everything-seems-to-apply-what-you-overhear/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“Two by two, I read library books as fast as I could go, rushing them home in the basket of my bicycle. From the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/two-by-two-i-read-library-books-as-fast-as-i-could-go-rushing-them/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“When somebody, no matter who, gives everything, it makes people feel ashamed for him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/when-somebody-no-matter-who-gives-everything-it-makes-people-feel/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“Daydreaming had started me on the way; but story writing, once I was truly in its grip, took me and shook me awake.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/daydreaming-had-started-me-on-the-way-but-story-writing-once-i-was/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“All children in those small-town, unhurried days had a vast inner life going on in the movies. Children were allowed to go without chaperone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/all-children-in-those-small-town-unhurried-days-had-a-vast-inner-life/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“At the sting in her eyes, she remembered for him that there must be no tears in his.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/at-the-sting-in-her-eyes-she-remembered-for-him-that-there-must-be-no/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“We do need to bring to our writing, over and over again, all the abundance we possess. To be able, to be ready, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/we-do-need-to-bring-to-our-writing-over-and-over-again-all-the/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“Could she ever be, would she be, where she was going?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/could-she-ever-be-would-she-be-where-she-was-going/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“When one of us (children) caught measles or whooping cough and we were isolated in bad upstairs, we wrote notes to each other perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/when-one-of-us-children-caught-measles-or-whooping-cough-and-we-were/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“She (my mother) stood always prepared in herself to challenge the world in our place. She did indeed tend to make the world look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/she-my-mother-stood-always-prepared-in-herself-to-challenge-the-world/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“For there is hate as well as love, she supposed, in the coming together and continuing of our lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/for-there-is-hate-as-well-as-love-she-supposed-in-the-coming-together/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“In children's art class we sat in a ring of kindergarten chairs and drew three daffodils that had just been picked out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/in-children-s-art-class-we-sat-in-a-ring-of-kindergarten-chairs-and/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [People are mostly layers of violence and tenderness wrapped like bulbs, and it is difficult to say what makes them onions or hyacinths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/people-are-mostly-layers-of-violence-and-tenderness-wrapped-like/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

[Explore all 227 Eudora Welty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

## More Eudora-welty quotes

> [“We do need to bring to our writing, over and over again, all the abundance we possess. To be able, to be ready, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/we-do-need-to-bring-to-our-writing-over-and-over-again-all-the/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“It's all right, I want to say to the students who write to me, for things to be what they appear to be, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/it-s-all-right-i-want-to-say-to-the-students-who-write-to-me-for/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“Fiction shows us the past as well as the present moment in mortal light; it is an art served by the indelibility of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/fiction-shows-us-the-past-as-well-as-the-present-moment-in-mortal/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“Art, though, is never the voice of a country; it is an even more precious thing, the voice of the individual, doing its best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/art-though-is-never-the-voice-of-a-country-it-is-an-even-more/)

[Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/)

> [“The other option was to go to the public library. Few people came back from a visit to the library. There was one girl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-fink/the-other-option-was-to-go-to-the-public-library-few-people-came-back/)

[Joseph Fink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-fink/)

Browse all 6 Eudora-welty quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Henry James said there isn't any difference between \"the English novel\" and \"the American novel\" since there are only two kinds of novels at all, the good and the bad.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Eudora Welty"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/henry-james-said-there-isn-t-any-difference-between-the-english-novel/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Eudora-welty"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/henry-james-said-there-isn-t-any-difference-between-the-english-novel/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/492/eudora-welty-1564_eudora-welty_henry-james-said-there-isn-t-any-differe_2401936.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/492/eudora-welty-1564_eudora-welty_henry-james-said-there-isn-t-any-differe_2401936.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/492/eudora-welty-1564_eudora-welty_henry-james-said-there-isn-t-any-differe_2401936.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Henry James said there isn't any difference between \"the English novel\" and \"the American novel\" since there…” — Eudora Welty",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Eudora Welty",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Henry James said there isn't any...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/henry-james-said-there-isn-t-any-difference-between-the-english-novel/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/henry-james-said-there-isn-t-any-difference-between-the-english-novel/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
