“ The man of talent affects to call his transgressions of the laws of the senses trivial, and to count them nothing considered with his devotion to his art. ”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Prudence (1841). copy citation
| Author | Ralph Waldo Emerson |
|---|---|
| Source | Prudence |
| Topic | devotion art |
| Date | 1841 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | in "Essays: First Series" |
| Note | |
| Weblink | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Essays:_First_Series/Prudence |
Context
“Appetite shows to the finer souls as a disease, and they find beauty in rites and bounds that resist it.
We have found out fine names to cover our sensuality withal, but no gifts can raise intemperance. The man of talent affects to call his transgressions of the laws of the senses trivial, and to count them nothing considered with his devotion to his art. His art never taught him lewdness, nor the love of wine, nor the wish to reap where he had not sowed. His art is less for every deduction from his holiness, and less for every defect of common sense.”
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