CHAPTER X SUGGESTIONS(第1页)
CHAPTERXSUGGESTIONS
HohattoWrite—CorregandSpeakers
Rulesofgrammaraoodintheirowheirlawsmustbeobservedihtsaherightwaysothattheyshallveyadeterminatesenseandmeaninginapleasingaablemanner。Hardandfastrules,however,evermakeawriterorauthor。
ThatisthebusinessofoldMotherhingtakeherplaaturehasnotendowedamanwithfacultiestoputhisideasintoproperpositiodoso。Hemayhavehythereg。Ifapersonhasnotathoughttoexpress,itotbeexpressed。Somethingaofnothihormusthavethoughtsandideasbeforeheexpressthemohesebynatureandeandaredevelopedaheudying。
ThereisanoldLatinquotatiardtothepoetwhichsays"Poetanasfit"thetranslationofwhichis—thepoetisborn,reethesameappliestotheauthor。Sreatscholarsasfarasbised,yettheyotexpressthemselvesiieislikegoldloachestwhereitisofhemselvesortherestoftheworld。
&waytolearositdownaasthebestwayhowtolearntorideabicyounttheedalaway。Writefirstaboutonthiarefamiliartoyou。Tryforinstanessayonacat。Saysomethinginalabouther。Don'tsay"sheisveryplayfulwhenyoungbutbeesgraveasshegrowsold。"Thathasbeensaidmorethanfiftythousandtimesbefore。
&youhaveseenthefamilyg,howshecaughtamouseiandwhatshedidaftergit。Familiarthemesarealwaysthebestfinner。Don'tattempttodescribeasAustraliaifyouhavehereandknownothiry。forsubjects,therearethousandsaroundyou。Describewhatyousawyesterday—afire,arunawayh-fightoandbeinaliiowritersiyle,butwetoutofthebeatenpath,makeapathwayofyourown。
Knoriteabout,writeaboutwhatyouknow?thisisagoldeowhiustadhere。Toknowyoumuststudy。Theenbookinwhiayread。Natureisovolumethepagesofeaswellastothepeer。StudyNature'smoodsaheyarevastlymoreimportantthahegrammar。Bismostdesirable,but,afterall,itisonlytheoryandnotpractice。ThegraallegoryintheEnglish,infaylanguage,waswrittenbyanignorant,so-orant,tinkernamedJohnBunyan。Shakespearewasnotasthesehetermto-day,yetnomaneverlivedorprobablyeverwilllivethatequalledorwillequalhimintheexpressionofthought。Hesimplyreadthebookoferpreteditfromthestandpointofhisownmaggenius。
Don'timagiacollegeeduisosuccessasawriter。Farfromit。Semenaredead-heads,drones,parasitesonthebodysootaloheworldbuttothemselves。Apersonmaybesoorheisvaluelessfromaandpoint。Asagealthilepurpose。Amanmayknowsomuchthatheknowslittleofanything。Thismaysoundparadoxical,but,heless,experieruth。
Ifyouarepoorthatisbutanadvayisaoeadrawback。Bettertobebornwithagbrainihanooninyourmouth。Iftheworldhadbeendependingontheso-calledpetsoffortuwouldhavedeteriago。
Fromthepitsofpoverty,fromthearenas,fromthehovelsof,fromthebackwoodsofobscurity,fromthelanesandby-ression,fromthedisasofueryhaveenandwomenwhohavemadehistory,madethewhter,better,higher,holierfortheirexiste,madeofitaplacegoodtoliveinandworthytodiein,—menandwomenwhohavehalloweditbytheirfootstepsandsahtheirpresenmanysecrateditwiththeirblood。Povertyisablessing,notanevil,abenisoher'shaherightspirit。Iarding,ithaselevatedliteratureinallages。HomerwasablindbeggarmansinginghissnatchesofsongforthedolerandoldSocrates,ora,manyadaywentwithouthisdinnerbecausehehadhaltogetit,whileteagtheyouthofAthens。Thedivihihanabeggar,houseless,homeless,friendless,wahroughItalywhileheposedhisimmortalilton,whoinhisbli;lelsfeartotread,"ediywhilewritinghissublime,"ParadiseLost。"ShakespearewasgladtoholdahehorsesofpatroeHorseTheatreforafewpenniesiobuybread。Burnsburstforthinnever-dyingsongwhileguidingtheploughshare。PoorHeinrie,eday,fromhis&qurave"inParisaddedliterarylaurelstothewreathofhisGermanFatherland。InAmericaElihuBurritt,whileattendingtheanvil,madehimselfamasteruagesaerarylionofhisageandtry。
Inotherfieldsofendeavorpovertyhasbeeoaapoleonwasborninobscurity,thesonofahand-to-mouthserinthebackwardislandofCorsica。AbrahamLiandprideofAmerica,themahislandtoohotforthefeetofslaves,alogtheOhiobackwoods。SodidJamesA。Garfield。UlyssesGraanyardtobeetheworldehomasA。Edisonenewsboyonarail
Theexamplesofthesemeoa。Povertythrustthemforwardinsteadofkeepiherefore,ifyouarepoormakeyourstoaneion,keepagoalinsightandbeoreachthatgoal。AstoryistoldofThomasCarlylethedayheattaihoeraryworldferuponhimwheedLordRectorhUy。Afterhisinstallationspeeghthehalls,hemetastudentseemiudy。Inhisot,crustywaytheSageofterrogatedtheyoungman:"Forrofessioudying?""Idon'tknow,"returh。"Youdon'tknow,"thunderedCarlyle,"youngman,youareafool。"Theoqualifyhisvehementremark,"MyboywhenIwasye,Iedingrinding,grippihelittlevillageofE,inthewildsof[Transcriber'spartible]-frieshire,lainisterandmyselfcouldreadtheBible,yetpoorandobscureasIwas,inmymind'seyeIsawachairawaitiempleofFameanddayandnightandnightanddayIstudieduntilIsatinthatchairtodayasLordRectorhUy。"
A,RobertBu,thefamousoutforLowwithbuthalf-a-hispocket。&quoes,"saidhe,&quraveierAbbey。"Hewasnotmuchofascholar,buthisambitioncarriedhimonandhebeeofthegreatliterarylionsoftheworld'smetropolis。
&anleyoorhousewaifwhoserealnamewasJohnRowlands。HewasbroughtupinaWelshworkhouse,buthehadambitioobeagreatexplreatwriter,becameamemberofParliamentandwaskheBritishSn。
&iontosudyouwillsucceed。Cuttheword"failure"outofyourlexi'taowledgeit。Remember"Inlife'searletheyonlyprevailwhodailymarwardandneversayfail。"
&aterbebutasteppihepathresstothegoalofsuccess。
Ifuntowardcessurrouoover。Buhe"Pilgrimress"inBedfordjailonscrapspaperwhilehewashalfstarvedoofbreadaunfortunateAmeriius,EdgarAllae"TheRaven,"themostwonderfulaswellasthemosthighlyartistiinallEnglishliterature,iageintheFordhamseeasisofwant。Throughoutallhisshortandwonderfullybrilliantcareer,poorPoeneverhadadollarhecouldcallhisown。Such,however,wasbothhisfaultandhismisfortuneandheisabadexemplar。
Don'tthinkthattheknowledgeofalibraryofbooksisessentialtosuccessasawriter。Oftenamultiplicityofbooksisg。Masterafewgoodbooksahemwellandyouwillhaveallthatisnecessary。Agreatauthorityhassaid:"Bewareofthemanofonebook,"whisthatamanofonebookisamasterofthecraft。ItisclaimedthatathhkheBiblealoneersoerature。itisthattheBibleandShakespearestituteaheessentialsofknowledge。Shakespearegatheredthefruitageofallwhowentbeforehim,hehassowntheseedsforallwhoshallevereafterhim。Hewasthegreatiualowhosewavestoutisofallthought。
Booksareow-a-days,thegreatestworks,thaingpress,arewithinthereachofall,andthemoreyouread,thebetter,providedtheyarew。Sometimesamantakespoisonintohissystemunsciousofthefactthatitispoison,asiainfoods,anditisveryhardtothrowoffitseffects。Therefore,beyourchmatter。Ifyouotaffordafulllibrary,andashasbeensaid,suotnecessary,selectafewofthegreatworksofthemasterminds,assimilateahem,sothattheywillbeofadvaoyourliterarysystem。Elsewhereinthisvolumeisgivenalistofsomeoftheworld'smasterpiewhiakeasele。
Yourbrainisastorehouse,don'tputuselessfurtocrowdittotheexofwhatisuseful。Layuponlythevaluableandservidwhitorequisitionata。
Asitisostudythebestauthorsiobeawriter,soitisostudythebestspeakersialkwithessandingoodstyle。Thtlyyoumustimitatethemastersoforalspeetothebestversationalistsandhowtheyexpressthemselves。Gotoheartheleadiures,speedsermoatethegesturesofelo,itis,thatmakestheeloistaor。Itisnothoresseshimselfbutthelanguagewhichheusesandthemasusewhichshouldiyou。Haveyouheardthepresentdaymastersofspeech?Therehavebeenpasttimemastersbuttheirtoillediofthegrave,andyoulyreadtheireloquenow。You,however,listentothecharmoftheliving。
Tomanyofusvoicesstillspeakfromthegrave,voicestowhichwehavelistenedwhehedivineessenceofspeech。PerhapsyouhavehungtureonthewordsofBeedTalmage。Boththrilledthesoulsofmenandwohousaoalivihweremastersofwords,theyscatteredtheflowersofrhetoritheshrineofeloquendhurledveritablebouquetsattheiraudienceswhichwereeagerlyseizedbythelatterandtreasurediorehouseofmemory。Bothweresdphilosophers,yettheyassedbySpurgeon,aplainmanofthepeoplewithlittleornoclaimtoeduthemoderheweonbyhisspeechattractedthousandstohisTaberantandCatholic,Turk,JewandMohammedaohearhimaraohislanguage。SuhtL。Moody,thegreatestEvaheworldhaseverknown。Moodywasnotaman?heencedlifeasashoesalesmaninChicago,yetnomaneverlivedwhodrewsudsofasatedthemwiththespellofhisspeech。"Oh,thatersoism,"youwillsay,butitwasnothiwastheburningwordsthatfellfromthelipsofthesemehemaheforcewithwhichtheyusedthosewordsthatdattractedthecrowdstolistenuntothem。Persoismorpersonalappearaasfatotheirsudeedasfarasphysiquewereed,someofthemed。Spurgeonodgy,fatlittleman,Moodywaslikeatryfarmer,TalmageinhisbigcloakwasoslovenlyofmenandonlyBeecherassableinthewayofrefialemanlybearing。Physicalappearananythink,isheiofanaudienielO'ell,theIrishtribune,wasahomely,ugly,awkward,ungainlymahiswordsattractedmillionstohissideandgainedforhimthehostileearoftheBritishParliament,hewasamastereativatehisaudiences。
Itiswordsandtheirplagthatostalloatterhowrefiherrespectsthepersonmaybe,ifheusewlyandexpresshimselfiinaceerstru,hewillrepelyou,whereasthemanwhoplaceshiswordscorredemployslanguageinharmonywiththelawsofgoodspeech,lethimbeeversohumble,willattradhaveaninfluenceoveryou。
Thegoodspeaker,thecorrectspeaker,isalwaysabletoaionanddoorsarethrowohimwhiclosedtoothersnotequippedwithalikefacilityofexpression。Themanwhotalkwellaogoidle。Heisrequiredinnearlyeverywalkoflifeandfieldofhumaheworldwantshimateveryturn。Employersaretlyofoodtalkers,thosewhoareabletoattractthepubliviheforcee。Amanmaybeable,educated,refined,ofuer,helessifhelackthepowertoexpresshimself,putforthhisviewsingoodandappropriatespeechhehastotakeabackseat,whilesomeohmuchlessabilitygetstheopportunitytoetothefrontbecauseheclothehisideasinreadywordsaively。
Youmayagainsaythat,makesamaspeaker?treethisistrue,butitisartthatmakeshimacorrectspeaker,aofluency。Itispossibleforeveryoobeeacorrectspeakerifhewillbutperseverealepainsandcare。
Attheriskofrepetitiongoodadvicemaybehereemphasized:Listespeakersandhewordswhichimpressyoumost。Keepanotebookandjotdownwords,phrases,seareinanywaystrikingoroutoftheordinaryrun。Ifyoudoheexagofawordyouhaveheard,lookitupiionary。Therearemanywords,onyms,whichhavealmostalikesignifievertheless,wheheyexpressdifferentshadesofmeaningandinsomesteadofbeied,arewidelydivergent。Bewareofsuchwords,fimeaniousethemiplaces。
&ocriti'tresentitbutratheriandlookuponthoseasfriendswhopointoutyourdefeorderthatyoumayremedythem。