Foolish critics often betray their ignorance by saying that a painter or a writer "only copies what he has seen, or puts down what he has known." They forget that no man imagines what he has not seen or known, and that it is in the selection of the characteristic details that the artistic power is manifested.


The Principles of Success in Literature (1865)

George Henry Lewes Quotes

Foolish critics often betray their ignorance by saying that a painter or a writer only copies what he has seen, or puts down what he has known. They...

Foolish critics often betray their ignorance by saying that a painter or a writer only copies what he has seen, or puts down what he has known. They...

Foolish critics often betray their ignorance by saying that a painter or a writer only copies what he has seen, or puts down what he has known. They...

Foolish critics often betray their ignorance by saying that a painter or a writer only copies what he has seen, or puts down what he has known. They...