Jamesian B Quotes & Sayings

In the past an artist produced things that were necessary socially; they were instruments, albeit of a special kind, that helped the dead reach eternity, spells to be cast, prayers to be liturgically fleshed ... The aesthetic component of those instruments enhanced their function but was never central, never an independent, nonutilitarian thing. — Stanislaw Lem

The windows of army surplus stores constituted hymns to male powerlessness. — William Gibson

It is good to recall that three centuries ago, around the year 1660, two of the greatest monuments of modern history were erected, one in the West and one in the East; St. Paul's Cathedral in London and the Taj Mahal in Agra. Between them, the two symbolize, perhaps better than words can describe, the comparative level of architectural technology, the comparative level of craftsmanship and the comparative level of affluence and sophistication the two cultures had attained at that epoch of history. But about the same time there was also created - and this time only in the West - a third monument, a monument still greater in its eventual import for humanity. This was Newton's Principia, published in 1687. Newton's work had no counterpart in the India of the Mughals. — Abdus Salam

With Presley as catalyst, the teenagers of America let out a collective wail, initiating the liberation of felt experience that would find its culmination in the following decade. This rupture transformed the way a whole generation thought about their most intimate selves: their bodies and minds, their sexuality, their race, and their basic mode of relating to the world. In fact, to a large degree, we still live in the space that Presley and his contemporaries cleaved into the darkness, to employ a Jamesian trope.[149] — Grant Maxwell

Change almost never fails because it's too early. It almost always fails because it's too late. — Seth Godin

Work is against human nature. The proof is that it makes us tired. — Michel Tournier

His secretary of many years' standing, Theodora Bosanquet, was struck by this persistent aspect of the Jamesian sensibility: 'When he walked out of the refuge of his study and into the world and looked about him, he saw a place of torment, where creatures of prey perpetually thrust their claws into the quivering flesh of the doomed, defenceless children of light.' Yet — Henry James

What did Nabokov and Joyce have in common, apart from the poor teeth and the great prose? Exile, and decades of near pauperism. A compulsive tendency to overtip. An uxoriousness that their wives deservedly inspired. More than that, they both lived their lives 'beautifully'
not in any Jamesian sense (where, besides, ferocious solvency would have been a prerequisite), but in the droll fortitude of their perseverance. They got the work done, with style. — Martin Amis

There seems to be no air in the air she breaths. — Stephen King

Your body, the only one you will ever have, is the foundation of your life. And it's either an anchor limiting your freedom and potential or a source of radiant energy, vitality and joy, elevating your life and the lives of those around you. It's your choice ... will yours be a source of strength, from which you will impact the world, or an obstacle, preventing you from your dreams and desires? ... As my friend, NFL Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway is fond of saying,'If you're going to bother setting a goal, aim high!' ... My advice to you, aim high; aim for strength. — Shawn Phillips

The apple blossom exists to create fruit; when that
comes, the petal falls. — Kabir

I have come to realize you can never be truly happy unless you've known some sorrow. — Lisa Kleypas

The greatest parts, without discretion as observed by an elegant writer, may be fatal to their owner; as Polyphemus, deprived of his eyes, was only the more exposed on account of his enormous strength and stature. — Joseph Addison

I can think of no other writer who so thoroughly embodies the Jamesian spirit as Alison Lurie. Like him she can excavate all the possibilities of a theme. Like his, her books seem long, unbroken threads, seamless progressions of effects. — Edmund White

A further, albeit more complex, possibility is that our conscious selves might suffer from characteristic uncertainty about our true values, and gather information about them from choices we make (the Jamesian: "How do I know what I like until I see what I pick"). — Tali Sharot

All I want for my birthday is another birthday. — Ian Dury

But in this case," he continues, tracing the line of the plasterwork with one finger, "I feel that there is one cliche that sums up my position so admirably that it would be pure egotism to attempt a more interesting periphrasis. Plain speaking, therefore, there is to be.
"There is undoubtedly a strong possibility, notwithstanding the vagaries of contingency and misfortune, that my son might
have fallen - or might, we could say, have voluntarily jumped, in accordance with the ethical codes with which he has been brought up - for a play you have made with some success, although, as I am persuaded you would concede, very little originality."
Plain speaking if you're Henry James, perhaps. — Deborah Meyler

To tell the truth, it is regarding the physical side of marriage that I have always been apprehensive...There so seldom seems to be enough of it," said Miss Teatime. — Colin Watson