LEAF AND TENDRIL 



I 



THE ART OP SEEING THINGS 



I DO not purpose to attempt to tell my reader 

 how to see things, but only to talk about the 

 art of seeing things, as one might talk of any other 

 art. One might discourse about the art of poetry, 

 or of painting, or of oratory, without any hope of 

 making one's readers or hearers poets or painters 

 or orators. 



The science of anything may be taught or ac- 

 quired by study; the art of it comes by practice or 

 inspiration. The art of seeing things is not some- 

 thing that may be conveyed in rules and precepts; 

 it is a matter vital in the eye and ear, yea, in the 

 mind and soul, of which these are the organs. I 

 have as little hope of being able to teU the reader 

 how to see things as I would have in trying to tell 

 him how to fall in love or to enjoy his dinner. 

 Either he does or he does not, and that is about all 

 there is of it. Some people seem born with eyes in 

 their heads, and others with buttons or painted 

 marbles, and no amount of science can make the 

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