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The child who is impelled to draw as soon as it can hold a pencil; the

Mozart who breaks out into music as early; the boy Bidder who worked out

the most complicated sums without learning arithmetic; the boy Pascal

who evolved Euclid out of his own consciousness: all these may be said

to have been impelled by instinct, as much as are the beaver and

the bee. And the man of genius is distinct in kind from the man of

cleverness, by reason of the working within him of strong innate

tendencies--which cultivation may improve, but which it can no more

create than horticulture can make thistles bear figs. The analogy

between a musical instrument and the mind holds good here also. Art and

industry may get much music, of a sort, out of a penny whistle; but,

when all is done, it has no chance against an organ. The innate musical

potentialities of the two are infinitely different.

Aphorisms and Reflections from the Works of T. H. Huxley · 第 156 / 386 题