[109]November
OneIt is well to remind ourselves that literature is first and last a means of life, and that the enterprise of forming one’s literary taste is an enterprise of learning how best to use this means of life.TwoInstead of saying, “Sorry I can’t see you, old chap, but I have to run off to the tennis club,” you must say, “... But I have to work.” This, I admit, is intensely difficult to say. Tennis is so much more urgent than the immortal soul.ThreeA talent never persuades or encourages the owner of it; it drives him with a whip.FourOne of the chief things which one has to learn is that the mental faculties are capable of a continuous hard activity; they do not tire like an arm or a leg. All they want is change, not rest, except in sleep.FiveCharacterisation, the feat of individualising characters, is the inmost mystery of imaginative literary art. It is of the very essence of the novel. It never belongs to this passage or that. It is implicit in the whole. It is always being done, and is never finished till the last page is written.SixCan you deny that when you have something definite to look forward to at eventide, something that is to employ all your energy, the thought of that something gives a glow and a more intense vitality to the whole day?SevenMost good books have begun by causing anger which disguised itself as contempt.EightWhen a thing is supreme there is nothing to be said.NineIvan Sergeïtch Turgenev’s BirthdayThe author of a miracle likeOn the Evemay be born, but he is also made. In the matter of condensation alone Turgenev was unique among the great literary artificers. He could say more in a chapter of two thousand words than any other novelist that ever lived. What he accomplishes again and again in a book of sixty thousand words, Tolstoi could not have accomplished under a quarter of a million.TenFine taste in fiction is almost as rare among novelists as among the general public.ElevenI have never once produced any literary work without a preliminary incentive quite other than the incentive of ebullient imagination. I have never “wanted to write,” until the extrinsic advantages of writing had presented themselves to me.TwelveBeauty is strangely various. There is the beauty of light and joy and strength exulting; but there is also the beauty of shade, of sorrow and sadness, and of humility oppressed. The spirit of the sublime dwells not only in the high and remote; it shines unperceived amid all the usual meannesses of our daily existence.ThirteenAlways give your fellow creature credit for good intentions. Do not you, though sometimes mistakenly, always act for the best? You know you do. And are you alone among mortals in rectitude?FourteenThere is no such case as the average case, just as there is no such man as the average man. Every man and every man’s case is special.FifteenOutside the department of fiction there are two kinds of authors—those who want to write because they have something definite to say, and those who want something definite to say because they can write.SixteenA lover is one who deludes himself; a journalist is one who deludes himself and other people.SeventeenAlthough a very greedy eater of literature, I can only enjoy reading when I have little time for reading. Give me three hours of absolute leisure with nothing to do but read, and I instantly become almost incapable of the act.EighteenI would point out that literature by no means comprises the whole field of knowledge, and that the disturbing thirst to improve one’s self—to increase one’s knowledge—may well be slaked quite apart from literature.NineteenThe public, by its casual approval, may give notoriety and a vogue which passes, but it is incapable of the sustained ardour of appreciation which alone results in authentic renown. It is incapable because it is nonchalant. To the public art is a very little thing—a distraction, the last resort againstennui. To the critics art looms enormous. They do not merely possess views; they are possessed by them. Their views amount to a creed, and that creed must be spread. Quiescence is torment to the devotee. He cannot cry peace when there is no peace. Passionate conviction, like murder, will out. “I believe; therefore you must believe”: that is the motto which moves the world.TwentyOnly those who have lived at the full stretch seven days a week for a long time can appreciate the full beauty of a regularly recurring idleness.Twenty-onePublishers as a commercial class are neither more nor less honourable than any other commercial class, and authors are neither more nor less honourable than publishers. In the world of commerce one fights for one’s own hand and keeps within the law; the code is universally understood, and the man who thinks it ought to be altered becausehehappens to be inexperienced, is a fool.Twenty-twoThere can be no sort of doubt that unless I was prepared to flout the wisdom of the ages, I ought to have refused his suggestion. But is not the wisdom of the ages a medicine for majorities? And, indeed, I was prepared to flout it, as in our highest and our lowest moments we often are.Twenty-threeLondon is chiefly populated by greyhaired men who for twenty years have been about to become journalists and authors. And but for a fortunate incident—the thumb of my Fate has always been turned up—I might ere this have fallen back into that tragic rearguard of Irresolutes.Twenty-fourI think it is rather fine, this necessity for the tense bracing of the will before anything worth doing can be done. I rather like it myself. I feel it to be the chief thing that differentiates me from the cat by the fire.Twenty-fiveThe most important preliminary to the task of arranging one’s life so that one may live fully and comfortably within one’s daily budget of twenty-four hours, is the calm realisation of the extreme difficulty of the task, of the sacrifices and the endless effort it demands.Twenty-sixWhatever sin a man does he either does for his own benefit or for the benefit of society.Twenty-sevenThe critic’s first requisite is that he should be interested. A man may have an instinctive good taste, but if his attitude is one of apathy, then he is not a true critic. The opinions of the public are often wrong; the opinions of the critic are usually right. But the fundamental difference between these two bodies does not lie here; it lies in the fact that the critics “care,” while the public does not care.Twenty-eightWhen, after the theatre, a woman precedes a man into a carriage, does she not publish and glory in the fact that she is his? Is it not the most delicious of avowals? There is something in the enforced bend of one’s head as one steps in. And when the man shuts the door with a masculine snap——Twenty-nineArdour in well-doing is a misleading and a treacherous thing. It cries out loudly for employment; you can’t satisfy it at first; it wants more and more; it is eager to move mountains and divert the course of rivers; it isn’t content till it perspires. And then, too often, when it feels the perspiration on its brow, it wearies all of a sudden and dies, without even putting itself to the trouble of saying, “I’ve had enough of this.”ThirtyLiterature exists so that where one man has lived finely ten thousand may afterwards live finely.
It is well to remind ourselves that literature is first and last a means of life, and that the enterprise of forming one’s literary taste is an enterprise of learning how best to use this means of life.
It is well to remind ourselves that literature is first and last a means of life, and that the enterprise of forming one’s literary taste is an enterprise of learning how best to use this means of life.
Instead of saying, “Sorry I can’t see you, old chap, but I have to run off to the tennis club,” you must say, “... But I have to work.” This, I admit, is intensely difficult to say. Tennis is so much more urgent than the immortal soul.
Instead of saying, “Sorry I can’t see you, old chap, but I have to run off to the tennis club,” you must say, “... But I have to work.” This, I admit, is intensely difficult to say. Tennis is so much more urgent than the immortal soul.
A talent never persuades or encourages the owner of it; it drives him with a whip.
A talent never persuades or encourages the owner of it; it drives him with a whip.
One of the chief things which one has to learn is that the mental faculties are capable of a continuous hard activity; they do not tire like an arm or a leg. All they want is change, not rest, except in sleep.
One of the chief things which one has to learn is that the mental faculties are capable of a continuous hard activity; they do not tire like an arm or a leg. All they want is change, not rest, except in sleep.
Characterisation, the feat of individualising characters, is the inmost mystery of imaginative literary art. It is of the very essence of the novel. It never belongs to this passage or that. It is implicit in the whole. It is always being done, and is never finished till the last page is written.
Characterisation, the feat of individualising characters, is the inmost mystery of imaginative literary art. It is of the very essence of the novel. It never belongs to this passage or that. It is implicit in the whole. It is always being done, and is never finished till the last page is written.
Can you deny that when you have something definite to look forward to at eventide, something that is to employ all your energy, the thought of that something gives a glow and a more intense vitality to the whole day?
Can you deny that when you have something definite to look forward to at eventide, something that is to employ all your energy, the thought of that something gives a glow and a more intense vitality to the whole day?
Most good books have begun by causing anger which disguised itself as contempt.
Most good books have begun by causing anger which disguised itself as contempt.
When a thing is supreme there is nothing to be said.
When a thing is supreme there is nothing to be said.
The author of a miracle likeOn the Evemay be born, but he is also made. In the matter of condensation alone Turgenev was unique among the great literary artificers. He could say more in a chapter of two thousand words than any other novelist that ever lived. What he accomplishes again and again in a book of sixty thousand words, Tolstoi could not have accomplished under a quarter of a million.
The author of a miracle likeOn the Evemay be born, but he is also made. In the matter of condensation alone Turgenev was unique among the great literary artificers. He could say more in a chapter of two thousand words than any other novelist that ever lived. What he accomplishes again and again in a book of sixty thousand words, Tolstoi could not have accomplished under a quarter of a million.
Fine taste in fiction is almost as rare among novelists as among the general public.
Fine taste in fiction is almost as rare among novelists as among the general public.
I have never once produced any literary work without a preliminary incentive quite other than the incentive of ebullient imagination. I have never “wanted to write,” until the extrinsic advantages of writing had presented themselves to me.
I have never once produced any literary work without a preliminary incentive quite other than the incentive of ebullient imagination. I have never “wanted to write,” until the extrinsic advantages of writing had presented themselves to me.
Beauty is strangely various. There is the beauty of light and joy and strength exulting; but there is also the beauty of shade, of sorrow and sadness, and of humility oppressed. The spirit of the sublime dwells not only in the high and remote; it shines unperceived amid all the usual meannesses of our daily existence.
Beauty is strangely various. There is the beauty of light and joy and strength exulting; but there is also the beauty of shade, of sorrow and sadness, and of humility oppressed. The spirit of the sublime dwells not only in the high and remote; it shines unperceived amid all the usual meannesses of our daily existence.
Always give your fellow creature credit for good intentions. Do not you, though sometimes mistakenly, always act for the best? You know you do. And are you alone among mortals in rectitude?
Always give your fellow creature credit for good intentions. Do not you, though sometimes mistakenly, always act for the best? You know you do. And are you alone among mortals in rectitude?
There is no such case as the average case, just as there is no such man as the average man. Every man and every man’s case is special.
There is no such case as the average case, just as there is no such man as the average man. Every man and every man’s case is special.
Outside the department of fiction there are two kinds of authors—those who want to write because they have something definite to say, and those who want something definite to say because they can write.
Outside the department of fiction there are two kinds of authors—those who want to write because they have something definite to say, and those who want something definite to say because they can write.
A lover is one who deludes himself; a journalist is one who deludes himself and other people.
A lover is one who deludes himself; a journalist is one who deludes himself and other people.
Although a very greedy eater of literature, I can only enjoy reading when I have little time for reading. Give me three hours of absolute leisure with nothing to do but read, and I instantly become almost incapable of the act.
Although a very greedy eater of literature, I can only enjoy reading when I have little time for reading. Give me three hours of absolute leisure with nothing to do but read, and I instantly become almost incapable of the act.
I would point out that literature by no means comprises the whole field of knowledge, and that the disturbing thirst to improve one’s self—to increase one’s knowledge—may well be slaked quite apart from literature.
I would point out that literature by no means comprises the whole field of knowledge, and that the disturbing thirst to improve one’s self—to increase one’s knowledge—may well be slaked quite apart from literature.
The public, by its casual approval, may give notoriety and a vogue which passes, but it is incapable of the sustained ardour of appreciation which alone results in authentic renown. It is incapable because it is nonchalant. To the public art is a very little thing—a distraction, the last resort againstennui. To the critics art looms enormous. They do not merely possess views; they are possessed by them. Their views amount to a creed, and that creed must be spread. Quiescence is torment to the devotee. He cannot cry peace when there is no peace. Passionate conviction, like murder, will out. “I believe; therefore you must believe”: that is the motto which moves the world.
The public, by its casual approval, may give notoriety and a vogue which passes, but it is incapable of the sustained ardour of appreciation which alone results in authentic renown. It is incapable because it is nonchalant. To the public art is a very little thing—a distraction, the last resort againstennui. To the critics art looms enormous. They do not merely possess views; they are possessed by them. Their views amount to a creed, and that creed must be spread. Quiescence is torment to the devotee. He cannot cry peace when there is no peace. Passionate conviction, like murder, will out. “I believe; therefore you must believe”: that is the motto which moves the world.
Only those who have lived at the full stretch seven days a week for a long time can appreciate the full beauty of a regularly recurring idleness.
Only those who have lived at the full stretch seven days a week for a long time can appreciate the full beauty of a regularly recurring idleness.
Publishers as a commercial class are neither more nor less honourable than any other commercial class, and authors are neither more nor less honourable than publishers. In the world of commerce one fights for one’s own hand and keeps within the law; the code is universally understood, and the man who thinks it ought to be altered becausehehappens to be inexperienced, is a fool.
Publishers as a commercial class are neither more nor less honourable than any other commercial class, and authors are neither more nor less honourable than publishers. In the world of commerce one fights for one’s own hand and keeps within the law; the code is universally understood, and the man who thinks it ought to be altered becausehehappens to be inexperienced, is a fool.
There can be no sort of doubt that unless I was prepared to flout the wisdom of the ages, I ought to have refused his suggestion. But is not the wisdom of the ages a medicine for majorities? And, indeed, I was prepared to flout it, as in our highest and our lowest moments we often are.
There can be no sort of doubt that unless I was prepared to flout the wisdom of the ages, I ought to have refused his suggestion. But is not the wisdom of the ages a medicine for majorities? And, indeed, I was prepared to flout it, as in our highest and our lowest moments we often are.
London is chiefly populated by greyhaired men who for twenty years have been about to become journalists and authors. And but for a fortunate incident—the thumb of my Fate has always been turned up—I might ere this have fallen back into that tragic rearguard of Irresolutes.
London is chiefly populated by greyhaired men who for twenty years have been about to become journalists and authors. And but for a fortunate incident—the thumb of my Fate has always been turned up—I might ere this have fallen back into that tragic rearguard of Irresolutes.
I think it is rather fine, this necessity for the tense bracing of the will before anything worth doing can be done. I rather like it myself. I feel it to be the chief thing that differentiates me from the cat by the fire.
I think it is rather fine, this necessity for the tense bracing of the will before anything worth doing can be done. I rather like it myself. I feel it to be the chief thing that differentiates me from the cat by the fire.
The most important preliminary to the task of arranging one’s life so that one may live fully and comfortably within one’s daily budget of twenty-four hours, is the calm realisation of the extreme difficulty of the task, of the sacrifices and the endless effort it demands.
The most important preliminary to the task of arranging one’s life so that one may live fully and comfortably within one’s daily budget of twenty-four hours, is the calm realisation of the extreme difficulty of the task, of the sacrifices and the endless effort it demands.
Whatever sin a man does he either does for his own benefit or for the benefit of society.
Whatever sin a man does he either does for his own benefit or for the benefit of society.
The critic’s first requisite is that he should be interested. A man may have an instinctive good taste, but if his attitude is one of apathy, then he is not a true critic. The opinions of the public are often wrong; the opinions of the critic are usually right. But the fundamental difference between these two bodies does not lie here; it lies in the fact that the critics “care,” while the public does not care.
The critic’s first requisite is that he should be interested. A man may have an instinctive good taste, but if his attitude is one of apathy, then he is not a true critic. The opinions of the public are often wrong; the opinions of the critic are usually right. But the fundamental difference between these two bodies does not lie here; it lies in the fact that the critics “care,” while the public does not care.
When, after the theatre, a woman precedes a man into a carriage, does she not publish and glory in the fact that she is his? Is it not the most delicious of avowals? There is something in the enforced bend of one’s head as one steps in. And when the man shuts the door with a masculine snap——
When, after the theatre, a woman precedes a man into a carriage, does she not publish and glory in the fact that she is his? Is it not the most delicious of avowals? There is something in the enforced bend of one’s head as one steps in. And when the man shuts the door with a masculine snap——
Ardour in well-doing is a misleading and a treacherous thing. It cries out loudly for employment; you can’t satisfy it at first; it wants more and more; it is eager to move mountains and divert the course of rivers; it isn’t content till it perspires. And then, too often, when it feels the perspiration on its brow, it wearies all of a sudden and dies, without even putting itself to the trouble of saying, “I’ve had enough of this.”
Ardour in well-doing is a misleading and a treacherous thing. It cries out loudly for employment; you can’t satisfy it at first; it wants more and more; it is eager to move mountains and divert the course of rivers; it isn’t content till it perspires. And then, too often, when it feels the perspiration on its brow, it wearies all of a sudden and dies, without even putting itself to the trouble of saying, “I’ve had enough of this.”
Literature exists so that where one man has lived finely ten thousand may afterwards live finely.
Literature exists so that where one man has lived finely ten thousand may afterwards live finely.