Criticism is properly the rod of divination: a hazel switch for the discovery of buried treasure, not a birch twig for the castigation of offenders.
Arthur SymonsA realist, in Venice, would become a romantic by mere faithfulness to what he saw before him.
Arthur SymonsHe knew that the whole mystery of beauty can never be comprehended by the crowd, and that while clearness is a virtue of style, perfect explicitness is not a necessary virtue.
Arthur SymonsA place has almost the shyness of a person, with strangers; and its secret is not to be surprised by a too direct interrogation.
Arthur SymonsHardly any one is able to see what is before him, just as it is in itself. He comes expecting one thing, he finds another thing, he sees through the veil of his preconception, he criticizes before he has apprehended, he condemns without allowing his instinct the chance of asserting itself.
Arthur Symons