No, that is the unpardonable sin! To make a trade of an art! I am rightly served for attempting such a brutal folly.' He turned away in a passion of misery.
'How very silly it is to talk like this!' came in Amy's voice, clearly critical.

'Art must be practised as a trade, at all events in our time.
This is the age of trade.

Of course if one refuses to be of one's time, and yet hasn't the means to live independently, what can result but breakdown and wretchedness?
The fact of the matter is, you could do fairly good work, and work which would sell, if only you would bring yourself to look at things in a more practical way.

It's what Mr Milvain is always saying, you know.' 'Milvain's temperament is very different from mine.

He is naturally light-hearted and hopeful; I am naturally the opposite.
What you and he say is true enough; the misfortune is that I can't act upon it.