The work of Henry James has always seemed divisible by a simple dynastic arrangement into three reigns: James 1st James 2nd and the Old Pretender.

The work of Henry James has always seemed divisible by a simple dynastic arrangement into three reigns: James I, James II, and the Old Pretender

Greatness is so often a courteous synonym for great success.

Any stigma, as the old saying is, will serve to beat a dogma.

History repeats itself. Historians repeat each other.

Success is little more than a chemical compound of man with moment.

The detective story is the normal recreation of noble minds.

People who jump to conclusions rarely alight on them.

Autobiography is an unrivaled vehicle for telling the truth about other people.

Biography is a very definite region bounded on the north by history, on the south by fiction, on the east by obituary, and on the west by tedium.

The Crimean War is one of the bad jokes of history.

Reading feeds the soul, writing nourishes it!

But I was done trying to wake her up, to make her see. To save her. The only person I could save was myself.

The bliss e'en of a moment still is bliss.

Perception is reality, but it may not be actuality, and you have got to be able to keep the difference between that.

An eastern contemporary, with a grain of wisdom in its wit, says that "when the whites win a fight, it is a victory, and when the Indians win it, it is a massacre."

Do I love him? Yes. But when the final battle comes, I'll have to kill him. That's just our reality. We both know exactly where we stand."- Francesca

What the eyes are for the outer world, fasts are for the inner.

If you love the life very much, you will see that everything is shining, everything is sparkling!

In fact, if we cut 50 percent of the liver out, it'll be back in two weeks.

Stupid men are often capable of things the clever would not dare to contemplate.