A young Italian knocked one day at the door of an artist’s
studio in Rome, and, when it was opened, exclaimed: “Please,
madam, will you give me the master’s brush?” The painter was
dead, and the boy, filled with a longing to be an artist, wished
for the great master’s brush. The lady placed the brush in the
boy’s hand, saying: “This is his brush; try it, my boy.” With a
flush of earnestness on his face he tried, but found he could
paint no better than with his own. The lady then said to him:
“You can not paint like the great master unless you have his
spirit.”
The same great lesson was taught once in a museum of old-time
armor. When a visitor was shown the sword of Wallace, he said:
“I do not see how it could win such victories.” “Ah, sir,” said
the guide, “you don’t see the arm that wielded it.”
We need all the grace and tact we can acquire through studying the best
models and imitating their example; but if we are mere imitators, our
lives will be void of real power. (Text.)
(1209)