Partiality is immorality; for
any book is wrong that gives a misleading picture of the
world and life. The trouble is that the weakling must be
partial; the work of one proving dank and depressing; of
another, cheap and vulgar; of a third, epileptically sensual;
of a fourth, sourly ascetic. In literature as in conduct,
you can never hope to do exactly right. All you can do is to
make as sure as possible; and for that there is but one rule.
Nothing should be done in a hurry that can be done slowly.
It is no use to write a book and put it by for nine or even
ninety years; for in the writing you will have partly
convinced yourself; the delay must precede any beginning; and
if you meditate a work of art, you should first long roll the
subject under the tongue to make sure you like the flavour,
before you brew a volume that shall taste of it from end to
end; or if you propose to enter on the field of controversy,
you should first have thought upon the question under all
conditions, in health as well as in sickness, in sorrow as
well as in joy. It is this nearness of examination necessary
for any true and kind writing, that makes the practice of the
art a prolonged and noble education for the writer.
There is plenty to do, plenty to say, or to say over again,
in the meantime. Any literary work which conveys faithful
facts or pleasing impressions is a service to the public. It
is even a service to be thankfully proud of having rendered.
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