It is not true that a man can believe or disbelieve what he will. But it is certain that an active desire to find any proposition true will unconsciously tend to that result by dismissing importunate suggestions which run counter to the belief, and welcoming those which favor it. The psychological law, that we only see what interests us, and only assimilate what is adapted to our condition, causes the mind to select its evidence.

A man may be variously accomplished, and yet be a feeble poet.

Sincerity is moral truth.

All good Literature rests primarily on insight.

Every one who has seriously investigated a novel question, who has really interrogated Nature with a view to a distinct answer, will bear me out in saying that it requires intense and sustained effort of imagination.

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

The magic of the pen lies in the concentration of your thoughts upon one object.