Henry James

Birth: 1843-04-15 , Nova Iorque

Death: 1916-02-28 , Chelsea

Henry James was an American writer who spent most of his adult life in England. He is known for his novels and short stories that explore the complex interplay between his characters' psychology and their social environment. His work often addresses themes of class, culture, and the clash between the Old and New Worlds.

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The time-honored bread-sauce of the happy ending.

The only reason for the existence of a novel is that it does compete with life.

If I should certainly say to a novice, “Write from experience, and experience only,” I should feel that this was a rather tantalising monition if I were not careful immediately to add, “Try to be one of the people on whom nothing is lost!”

[ Of Henry David Thoreau :] He was worse than provincial—he was parochial.

It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.

The curious thing is that the more the mind takes in, the more it has space for, and that all one’s ideas are like the Irish people at home who live in the different corners of a room, and take boarders.

We stand like a race with shrunken muscles, staring helplessly at the weights our forefathers easily lifted.

To write well and worthily of American things one need even more than elsewhere to be a master .

I don’t care anything about reasons, but I know what I like.

An Englishman is never so natural as when he’s holding his tongue.

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Henry James (1843-1916) was a prolific American writer, based in England, considered a central figure in the transition from realism to modernism in literature. Born into a prominent and intellectual family in New York, James spent much of his life in Europe, which became a recurring theme in his work, exploring the contrast between American and European society. His novels, such as 'The Portrait of a Lady' and 'The Ambassadors,' are known for their deep psychological analysis, intricate style, and focus on the nuances of social and moral life. He also wrote short stories, literary criticism, and plays, leaving a significant legacy in American and English fiction.