to his fellows must be most independent in his relations to them. He
cannot commit the management of his life to others without maiming or
blighting it. The community insists upon immediate activity at the expense
of ultimate service, upon present productivity at the cost of ultimate
power. The artist must learn, therefore, to bar his door against the
public until he has so matured his own strength and determined his own
methods that neither crowds nor applause nor demands can confuse or
disturb him. The great spirits who have nourished the best life of the
race have not turned to their fellows for their aims and habits of work;
they have taken counsel of that ancient oracle which speaks in every man's
soul, and to that counsel they have remained steadfastly true. There is no
clearer disclosure of divine guidance in the confusion of human aims and
counsels than the presence of a distinct faculty or gift in a man; and
when such a gift reveals itself a man must follow it, though it cost him
everything which is most dear; and he must give it the largest opportunity
of growth, though he face the criticism of the world in the endeavour.

Life is always a struggle, and no man comes to any kind of mastery without
a conflict. The really great man is often compelled to light for his right
to live in the freedom of spirit. Prophets, poets, teachers, and artists
have known the scorn, hatred, and rejection of society; they have known
also its flatteries, rewards, and imperious demands; and they have learned
that in both moods society is the foe of the highest development and of
the noblest talent. He who breaks under the scorn or yields to the
adulation becomes the creature of those whom he would serve, and so misses
his own highest fortune and theirs as well; he who forgets the
indifference in steadfast work, and holds to his aims and habits when
success knocks at his door, gains the most and the best for himself and
for others.