“It is remarkable that if you do not administer a disagreeable character carefully, the public have a decided tendency to think that the story is disagreeable, and not merely the fictitious person.”

Offering practical insight into how readers respond to unpleasant characters · Letter to Percy Fitzgerald, 27 July 1864

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“But I am bound to add that I do not regard successful fiction as a thing to be achieved in “leisure moments.”

Rejecting the idea that serious fiction can be mastered casually · Letter to an anonymous correspondent, 27 December 1866

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“You will, of course, receive my opinion as that of an individual writer and student of art, who by no means claims to be infallible.”

Framing literary criticism with humility about personal judgement · Letter to an anonymous correspondent, 5 February 1867

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