Hopes & Fears for Art by William Morris

‘And the men of labour spent their strength in daily struggling for / bread to maintain the vital strength they labour with: so living in a / daily circulation of sorrow, living but to work, and working but to / live, as if daily bread were the only end of a wearisome life, and a / wearisome life the only occasion of daily bread. '-DANIEL DEFOE.

I KNOW that a large proportion of those here present are either already / practising the Fine Arts, or are being specially educated to that end, / and I feel that I may be expected to address myself specially to these. / But since it is not to be doubted that we are _all_ met together because / of the interest we take in what concerns these arts, I would rather / address myself to you _all_ as representing the public in general. / Indeed, those of you who are specially studying Art could learn little of / me that would be useful to yourselves only. You are already learning / under competent masters-most competent, I am glad to know-by means of a / system which should teach you all you need, if you have been right in / making the first step of devoting yourselves to Art; I mean if you are / aiming at the right thing, and in some way or another understand what Art / means, which you may well do without being able to express it, and if you / are resolute to follow on the path which that inborn knowledge has shown / to you; if it is otherwise with you than this, no system and no teachers / will help you to produce real art of any kind, be it never so humble. / Those of you who are real artists know well enough all the special advice / I can give you, and in how few words it may be said-follow nature, study / antiquity, make your own art, and do not steal it, grudge no expense of / trouble, patience, or courage, in the striving to accomplish the hard / thing you have set yourselves to do. You have had all that said to you / twenty times, I doubt not; and twenty times twenty have said it to / yourselves, and now I have said it again to you, and done neither you nor / me good nor harm thereby. So true it all is, so well known, and so hard / to follow.