40+ William Dean Howells Quotes On Education, Slavery And Religion

William Dean Howells was an American author, editor, and literary critic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was a major realist writer and was known for his support of literary naturalism. He wrote novels, short stories, and plays, and was the editor of the influential magazine Harper's Weekly from 1866 to 1872. Following is our collection on famous quotes by William Dean Howells on education, slavery, life.

Top 10 William Dean Howells Quotes

1. It is the still, small voice that the soul heeds, not the deafening blasts of doom.
2. He who sleeps in continual noise is wakened by silence.
3. What the American public wants in the theater is a tragedy with a happy ending.
4. An acre of performance is worth a whole world of promise.
5. Some people can stay longer in an hour than others can in a week.
6. The wars come and go in blood and tears; but whether they are bad wars, or what are comically called good wars, they are of one effect in death and sorrow.
7. If we like a man's dream, we call him a reformer; if we don't like his dream, we call him a crank.
8. A man never sees all that his mother has been to him until it's too late to let her know he sees it.
9. The disposition to give a cup of cold water to a disciple is a far nobler property than the finest intellect. Satan has a fine intellect, but not the image of God.
10. There will presently be no room in the world for things; it will be filled up with the advertisements of things.

William Dean Howells Short Quotes

• Is it worth while to observe that there are no Venetian blinds in Venice?
• The mortality of all inanimate things is terrible to me, but that of books most of all.
• The wrecks of slavery are fast growing a fungus crop of sentiment.
• Inequality is as dear to the American heart as liberty itself.
• A friend knows how to allow for mere quantity in your talk, and only replies to the quality.
• Why art thou but a nest of gloom While the bobolinks are singing?
• Preach the blessings of our deeply incorporated civilization by the mouths of our eight-inch guns.
• If ever the public was betrayed by its press, it's ours.
• Wisdom and goodness are twin-born, one heart must hold both sisters, never seen apart.
• The difficulty is to know conscience from self-interest.

William Dean Howells Famous Quotes And Sayings

We are creatures of the moment; we live from one little space to another, and only one interest at a time fills these. — William Dean Howells

Lord, for the erring thought Not unto evil wrought: Lord, for the wicked will Betrayed, and baffled still: For the heart from itself kept, Our thanksgiving accept. For ignorant hopes that were Broken to our blind prayer: For pain, death, sorrow, sent Unto our chastisement: For all loss of seeming good, Quicken our gratitude. — William Dean Howells

Lord, for the erring thoughtNot into evil wrought:Lord, for the wicked willBetrayed and baffled still:For the heart from itself kept,Our thanksgiving accept. — William Dean Howells

Each one of us must suffer long to himself before he can learn that he is but one in a great community of wretchedness which has been pitilessly repeating itself from the foundation of the world. — William Dean Howells

Out of the fragrant heart of bloom, The bobolinks are singing; Out of the fragrant heart of bloom The apple-tree whispers to the room, "Why art thou but a nest of gloom While the bobolinks are singing? — William Dean Howells

In Europe life is histrionic and dramatized, and in America, except when it is trying to be European, it is direct and sincere. — William Dean Howells

See how today's achievement is only tomorrow's confusion;See how possession always cheapens the thing that was precious. — William Dean Howells

The secret of the man who is universally interesting is that he is universally interested. — William Dean Howells

Christ and the life of Christ is at this moment inspiring the literature of the world as never before, and raising it up a witness against waste and want and war. It may confess Him, as in Tolstoi's work it does, or it may deny Him, but it cannot exclude Him; and in the degree that it ignores His spirit, modern literature is artistically inferior. In other words, all good literature is now Christmas literature. — William Dean Howells

I know, indeed, of nothing more subtle satisfying and cheering than a knowledge of the real good will and appreciation of others. Such happiness does not come with money, nor does it flow from a fine physical state. It cannot be bought. But it is the keenest joy, after all; and the toiler's truest and best reward. — William Dean Howells

You'll find as you grow older that you weren't born such a great while ago after all. The time shortens up. — William Dean Howells

People naturally despise a dependant. — William Dean Howells

It is the curse of prosperity that it takes work away from us, and shuts that door to hope and health of spirit. — William Dean Howells

n artistic atmosphere does not create artists a literary atmosphere does not create literators; poets and painters spring up where there was never a verse made or a picture seen. This suggests that God is no more idle now than He was at the beginning, but that He is still and forever shaping the human chaos into the instruments and means of beauty. — William Dean Howells

The book which you read from a sense of duty, or because for any reason you must, does not commonly make friends with you. — William Dean Howells

Primitive societies without religion have never been found. — William Dean Howells

By beauty of course I mean truth, for the one involves the other; it is only the false in art which is ugly, and it is only the ugly that is universal. — William Dean Howells

Do not trouble yourselves about standards or ideals; but try to be faithful and natural: remember that there is no greatness, no beauty, which does not come from truth to your own knowledge of things; and keep on working, even if your work is not long remembered. — William Dean Howells

I wonder why we hate the past so. — William Dean Howells

How is it the great pieces of good luck fall to us? — William Dean Howells

Life Lessons by William Dean Howells

1. William Dean Howells taught that life is full of both joy and sorrow, and that we should strive to find the beauty in both. He also believed that we should be kind and generous to our fellow man, and to take time to appreciate the small moments of life. Lastly, he advocated for the pursuit of knowledge and understanding, as it is the key to a meaningful and fulfilling life.