Paul Leon:
The most general and lasting impression I shall always retain of Joyce the man is his exquisite gentleness, together with his infinite power of comprehension. By this I do not mean a quality of heart … I am referring to a more general characteristic, one that partakes, as it were, of the elementary force of his makeup. For gentleness and comprehension, in his case, did not spring from weakness or indifference, but were allied to an inner strength, a directed spiritual activity, such as I have never seen in anyone else.
