Lionel TrillingLiterature is the human activity that takes the fullest and most precise account of variousness, possibility, complexity, and difficulty.
About This Quote
Literature is the human activity that takes the fullest and most precise account of variousness, possibility, complexity, and difficulty. This quote by Henry James provides insight into writing as an art form. To write well means to reflect the fullness of life in all its fullness, its variety, its complexity, and its difficulty. To write is an act of discovery; it turns possibilities into realities; it deals with reality as it is, not as it would like to be; and it deals with reality as it is, not as we wish it to be.
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