Henry James

"The essence of moral action is to care more for others than they care for themselves."

"Experience is never limited, and it is never complete; it is an immense sensibility, a kind of huge spider-web of the finest silken threads."

"True happiness lies in the conviction that one is profitably occupied."

"One cannot both feast and fast at the same time."

"The idea that a writer should be free from passion is absurd; passion is his fuel."

"To live is to serve; service is the rent we pay for occupying space."

"The mind of a woman, especially when she is in love, is not bound by the same rules as other minds."

"If you wish to be a writer, you must first learn to be a good reader."

"The only obligation to which in advance we may hold a novel is that it be interesting."

"Character is fate, and fate is character."

"The terrible thing is that every man has his liberty and nobody knows what to do with it."

"Disappointment, when it comes, is often of one's own making."

"The benefit of travel is that it shows us what a very confined and narrow world most of us live in."

"Silence is sometimes the perfect expression of scorn."

"The greatest thing is that we have a future—that we are not caught fast in the past."

"To have failed one's self is to have failed everyone."

"Art is a matter of taste, but truth is beyond taste."

"The private world of the spirit is all that matters to the human heart."

"Time is a great healer, though not in the way we expect."

"Memory is the treasury of the imagination."

"The privilege of marriage is that it gives one duties."

"Fear teaches us to be wise, but it should never make us cowards."

"To observe is to live; not to observe is merely to exist."

"Knowledge without wisdom is a burden; wisdom without knowledge is empty."

"The pursuit of happiness often leaves one less happy than the pursuit of virtue."

"A woman who is much beloved by men will forgive much in them."

"Failure is the foundation upon which success must be built."

"The greatest pleasure is to study the human heart in all its complications."

"One never knows what may happen to one if one ventures into deep water."

"To be the instrument of someone's joy is to be happy one's self."