What is character but the determination of incident? What is incident but the illustration of character?
Henry JamesLife is, in fact, a battle. Evil is insolent and strong; beauty enchanting, but rare; goodness very apt to be weak; folly very apt to be defiant; wickedness to carry the day; imbeciles to be in great places, people of sense in small, and mankind generally unhappy. But the world as it stands is no narrow illusion, no phantasm, no evil dream of the night; we wake up to it, forever and ever; and we can neither forget it nor deny it nor dispense with it.
Henry JamesI intend to judge things for myself; to judge wrongly, I think, is more honorable than not to judge at all.
Henry James