But those forceful lines of the billows, those sharp contours of the rock, contain everything which expresses their spirit.
It is not different with the author who writes a historical novel or drama.

Every man's life is crowded with the trivialities of the day.

The scholarly historian may have to look into them; the artist selects those events in his hero's life which truly express his personality and which are fit to sustain the significant plot.

The more he brings those few elements out of the many into sharp relief, the more he stimulates our interest and makes us really feel with the persons of his novel or drama.

The sculptor even selects one single position.