It is curious that money, which is the most valuable thing in life,
_exceptis excipiendis_, should be the most fatal corrupter of music,
literature, painting and all the arts. As soon as any art is pursued
with a view to money, then farewell, in ninety-nine cases out of a
hundred, all hope of genuine good work. If a man has money at his back,
he may touch these things and do something which will live a long while,
and he may be very happy in doing it; if he has no money, he may do good
work, but the chances are he will be killed in doing it and for having
done it; or he may make himself happy by doing bad work and getting money
out of it, and there is no great harm in this, provided he knows his work
is done in this spirit and rates it for its commercial value only.
Still, as a rule, a man should not touch any of the arts as a creator
unless be has a _discreta posizionina_ behind him.