Invention is one of the great marks of genius, but if we consult
experience, we shall find that it is by being conversant with the
inventions of others that we learn to invent, as by reading the thoughts
of others we learn to think.

Whoever has so far formed his taste as to be able to relish and feel the
beauties of the great masters has gone a great way in his study; for,
merely from a consciousness of this relish of the right, the mind swells
with an inward pride, and is almost as powerfully affected as if it had
itself produced what it admires. Our hearts frequently warmed in this
manner by the contact of those whom we wish to resemble, will undoubtedly
catch something of their way of thinking, and we shall receive in our own
bosoms some radiation at least of their fire and splendour. That
disposition, which is so strong in children, still continues with us, of
catching involuntarily the general air and manner of those with whom we
are most conversant; with this difference only, that a young mind is
naturally pliable and imitative, but in a more advanced state it grows
rigid, and must be warmed and softened before it will receive a deep
impression.

From these considerations, which a little of your reflection will carry a
great way further, it appears of what great consequence it is that our
minds should be habituated to the contemplation of excellence, and that,
far from being contented to make such habits the discipline of our youth
only, we should, to the last moment of our lives, continue a settled
intercourse with all the true examples of grandeur. Their inventions are
not only the food of our infancy, but the substance which supplies the
fullest maturity of our vigour.

The mind is but a barren soil; is a soil soon exhausted, and will produce