Having observed the hands and their duties, we can readily see the
kind of task they must do in music. It is just the same kind of task
as laying a wall of stone. Every motion must be done honorably.
Everything must be thought out in the mind and heart before the hands
are called upon to act. Wise people always go about their tasks this
way. Unwise people try the other way, of acting first and thinking it
out afterward, and, of course, they always fail. You can now
understand that a great pianist is one who has great thought with
which to command the hands. And to be sure they will obey his commands
at once, he has made them obey him continuously for years. This
teaching the hands to obey is called Practice.

The Italian artist, Giotto, once said:

"You may judge my masterhood of craft by seeing that I can draw a
circle unerringly."




CHAPTER XVII.

WHAT THE ROMAN LADY SAID.


"You may always be successful if you do but set out well, and let
good thoughts and practice proceed upon right method."--_Marcus
Aurelius._[55]

The same wise Roman emperor who said this tells us a very pretty thing