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An 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 My Literary Passions (1895)

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More quotes by William Dean Howells

We live, but a world has passed away
With the years that perished to make us men.

The Mulberries (1871)

What the American public wants is a tragedy with a happy ending.

French Ways and Their Meaning (1919)

The life of Christ, it wasn't only in healing the sick and going about to do good; it was suffering for the sins of others.

If we love mankind, pity them, we even wish to suffer for them.

The wrecks of slavery are fast growing a fungus crop of sentiment.

Their Wedding Journey (1872)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: William Dean Howells (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.