Henry James Quotes

My love of dynamic complications often led me to avoid simplicity when perhaps it was the wisest choice.

Simplicity is the outcome of technical subtlety. It is the goal, not the starting point.

No one is any one thing.

I never want to dumb it down. If there's any simplification, it's just a simplification to make sure that the reader understands the point that the character is trying to make.

The art of simplicity is a puzzle of complexity.

Country's cool if you like that kind of thing, but it doesn't have the complexity or - what's the word? - subtlety.

I think complexity is beautiful.

What is style? For many people, a very complicated way of saying very simple things. According to us, a very simple way of saying very complicated things.

I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

I never wanted to get caught in doing something that was really one note.

Simple things should be simple and complex things should be possible.

As intuition grows, the need to make problems and see complications starts to dwindle.

[…] but I believe that things are extremely complicated, and her looking over me was as complicated as anything could ever be. But it was also incredibly simple.

...God knows you can have complication and difficulty without any compensating depth or seriousness

Is there anything in the universe more beautiful and protective than the simple complexity of a spider's web?

I'm inspired by the fragrance because it is feminine and elegant but not too sophisticated. There's something very simple at the bottom of it but it remains mysterious, it's got different facets. Just like the roles that I love to play, it conveys differing degrees of intensity, lightness and depth... I like to be spontaneous and this fragrance is very spontaneous too.

I was raised by and have raised people who regard telling one story when two would do as a sign someone is not really trying.

Some consider the puzzles that are created by their omissions as spicy challenges, without which their texts would be boring; others shun clarity lest their work is considered trivial.

If something can't be explained on the back of an envelope, it's rubbish.

Sharp and mild, dull and keen, well known and strange, dirty and clean, where both the fool and wise are seen: All this am I, have ever been, - in me dove, snake and swine convene!

"Simple" is a tricky word, it can mean a lot of things. To us, it just means clear. That doesn't always mean total reduction, or minimalism - sometimes, to make things clearer, you have to add a step.

Stupid truth, always resisting simplicity

People are too complicated to have simple labels.

Everything is simpler than one can imagine, and yet complicated and inter-twined beyond comprehension.

Do not be alarmed by simplification, complexity is often a device for claiming sophistication, or for evading simple truths.