Quote Atlassourced quotes & context
10 quotations

George Henry Lewes Quotes: Sources, Meanings & Themes

Browse quotations by George Henry Lewes with named works, context notes, meanings and recurring themes.

About the author

Context for this collection

1817–1878 · English philosopher, critic, novelist and man of letters

Common themes

Authorship, literary vision, sincerity, originality, style, expression, criticism, mind, experience, scientific language and independent judgment.

Sources

All 2 works represented in this collection

The Principles of Success in Literature1891 · 8 quotationsThe Physical Basis of Mind1877 · 2 quotations
Explore by theme

Focused topic collections for George Henry Lewes

Every publication-ready author-and-topic collection is linked here so the complete focused guide set remains directly discoverable from this author page.

George Henry Lewes Quotes About Thinking7 matching quotes · 2 sources
Leading recurring themes
Identity 4Self Trust 3Learning 2Mind 2Confidence 1Life 1Short 8Curiosity 2Deep 2Thinking 7Communication 5Self-Respect 2
Source identified1
Hence more than half their disputes are at bottom verbal.
Read & copy

“Hence more than half their disputes are at bottom verbal.”

The Physical Basis of Mind · 1877
Meaning & context

Lewes argues that many apparent disagreements persist because people use the same terms with different meanings, making precision of language part of clearer reasoning.

Source details

The Physical Basis of Mind, chapter on consciousness and unconsciousness; Project Gutenberg #60212. Lewes is discussing ambiguity of scientific terms, so the line supports communication and conceptual clarity rather than a claim that all disputes are merely verbal.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified2
Science, as we often say, is the systematization of Experience under the forms of ideal constructions.
Read & copy

“Science, as we often say, is the systematization of Experience under the forms of ideal constructions.”

The Physical Basis of Mind · 1877
Meaning & context

Lewes describes science as organized experience shaped into conceptual structures, a historical philosophy-of-science claim about how observation becomes systematic knowledge.

Source details

The Physical Basis of Mind, Problem I, “The Study of Psychology,” in the discussion of modern scientific method; Project Gutenberg #60212. The wording belongs to Lewes’s 1877 framework, not current philosophy-of-science consensus.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified3
Without clear Vision no skill can avail.
Read & copy

“Without clear Vision no skill can avail.”

The Principles of Success in Literature · 1891
Meaning & context

Technique cannot fully rescue confused conception: Lewes argues that literary skill depends first on seeing the subject and its relations with enough distinctness.

Source details

The Principles of Success in Literature, chapter on Vision in Art, Project Gutenberg #10420; “Vision” is Lewes’s critical term for distinct mental apprehension.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified4
It is imitation, and as such it is lifeless.
Read & copy

“It is imitation, and as such it is lifeless.”

The Principles of Success in Literature · 1891
Meaning & context

Surface imitation may reproduce another writer’s recognizable manner without reproducing the thought or experience that originally gave that manner vitality.

Source details

The Principles of Success in Literature, chapter on Style, Project Gutenberg #10420; Lewes criticizes attempts to copy the verbal mannerisms of famous writers.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified5
All good Literature rests primarily on insight.
Read & copy

“All good Literature rests primarily on insight.”

The Principles of Success in Literature · 1891
Meaning & context

Lewes makes clear perception the starting condition of literary creation: a writer must see or understand something distinctly before expression can make it vivid.

Source details

The Principles of Success in Literature, Chapter II, “The Principle of Vision,” Project Gutenberg #10420, in the 1891 volume edited by Fred Newton Scott. “All good Literature rests primarily on insight” opens Lewes’s claim that authentic literary expression depends on seeing and feeling for oneself. It is historical literary criticism rather than an experimentally established law of creativity.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified6
It must be the expression of its author's mind.
Read & copy

“It must be the expression of its author's mind.”

The Principles of Success in Literature · 1891
Meaning & context

Lewes treats style as inseparable from the writer’s actual thought and temperament rather than as a detachable surface manner copied from someone else.

Source details

The Principles of Success in Literature, chapter on Style, Project Gutenberg #10420; the sentence follows Lewes’s assertion that good style must be sincere.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified7
only THROUGH the style can thought reach the reader's mind.
Read & copy

“only THROUGH the style can thought reach the reader's mind.”

The Principles of Success in Literature · 1891
Meaning & context

Style is treated as the actual route by which thought becomes accessible to readers, not decorative clothing that can be separated from meaning without loss.

Source details

The Principles of Success in Literature, chapter on Style, Project Gutenberg #10420; capitalization of “THROUGH” follows the represented Gutenberg transcription.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified8
They ought to be illustrations not authorities, studies not models.
Read & copy

“They ought to be illustrations not authorities, studies not models.”

The Principles of Success in Literature · 1891
Meaning & context

Great predecessors can teach principles without becoming templates to copy, preserving the learner’s responsibility to develop independent judgment and expression.

Source details

The Principles of Success in Literature, chapter on Style, Project Gutenberg #10420; Lewes is warning writers against imitating Cicero, Titian or other masters.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified9
Insincerity is always weakness; sincerity even in error is strength.
Read & copy

“Insincerity is always weakness; sincerity even in error is strength.”

The Principles of Success in Literature · 1891
Meaning & context

The claim values genuine conviction over calculated pose in literary work, while allowing that sincere writers can still be factually or critically mistaken.

Source details

The Principles of Success in Literature, discussion of sincerity, Project Gutenberg #10420; preserved as Lewes’s literary-critical principle rather than a universal law.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified10
At any rate see that it be your own, and not another's; on no other terms will the world listen to it.
Read & copy

“At any rate see that it be your own, and not another's; on no other terms will the world listen to it.”

The Principles of Success in Literature · 1891
Meaning & context

Distinctive style is tied to ownership of thought and expression: the writer is urged to develop a voice grounded in genuine perception rather than borrowed manner.

Source details

The Principles of Success in Literature, chapter on Style, Project Gutenberg #10420; the sentence concludes a warning against imitation and affected literary manner.

↓ Download image (JPG)