MAY 315 



home to me as a reason why, instead of giving my own 

 superficial opinions, I try to help others by recommend- 

 ing books which I think will greatly add to their enjoy- 

 ment of a visit to Florence : 



'The great business of study is to form a mind 

 adapted and adequate to all times and all occasions ; to 

 which all nature is then laid open, and which may be 

 said to possess the key of her inexhaustible riches. 



'A detail of instruction might be extended with a 

 great deal of pleasure and ostentatious amplification ; 

 but it would at best be useless. Our studies will be for 

 ever in a very great degree under the direction of chance. 

 Like travellers, we must take what we can get and when 

 we can get it, whether it is or is not administered in the 

 most commodious manner, in the most proper place, or 

 at the exact minute when we would wish to have it. 



' The habit of contemplating and brooding over the 

 ideas of great geniuses, till you find yourself warmed by 

 the contact, is the true method of forming an artist -like 

 mind. It is impossible to think or invent in a mean 

 manner ; a state of mind is acquired that receives those 

 ideas only which relish of grandeur and simplicity. 



' I do not desire that you should get other people to 

 do your business, or to think for you. I only wish you 

 to consult with, to call in as councillors, men the most 

 distinguished for their knowledge and experience, the 

 result of which counsel must ultimately depend upon 

 yourself. Such conduct in the commerce of life has 

 never been considered as disgraceful, or in any respect 

 imply intellectual imbecility ; it is a sign rather of that 

 true wisdom which feels individual imperfection, and is 

 conscious to itself how much collective observation is 

 necessary to fill the immense extent and to comprehend 

 the infinite variety of nature. I recommend neither self- 

 dependence nor plagiarism . I advise you only to take 



