Art (literature) is not a branch of pedagogy. The artist (in
literature) appeals to that part of our being which is not
dependent on wisdom; to that in us which is a gift and not an
acquisition—and, therefore, more permanently enduring. He speaks
to our capacity for delight and wonder, to the sense of mystery
surrounding our lives; to our sense of pity, and beauty, and
pain. It has taken me years of struggle, hard work and research
to learn to make one simple gesture, and I know enough about the
art of writing to realize that it would take as many years of
concentrated effort to write one simple, beautiful sentence. Any
man who will look into his heart and honestly write what he sees
there, will find plenty of readers. If I were authorized to
address any word directly to our novelists, I should say: Do not
trouble yourself about standards or ideals, but try to be
faithful and natural. Everything which I have created as a poet
has had its origin in a frame of mind and a situation in life; I
never wrote because