However incumbent it may be on most of us to do our duty, there is, in spite of a thousand narrow dogmatisms, nothing in the world that anyone is under the least obligation to like - not even (one braces one's self to risk the declaration) a particular kind of writing.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- While duty exists, no one is obligated to like anything specific, including certain styles of writing. Personal taste remains a matter of freedom.
- In plain terms
- You have a duty to do your job, but you don't have to like specific things.
- What can you take from it?
- Personal preference is not a moral obligation.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can we be forced to like art?
- Where does duty end and preference begin?
Another view
Some duties do require tolerating disliked things.
More from Henry James
The critical sense is so far from frequent that it is absolutely rare, and the possession of the cluster of qualities that minister to it is one of the highest…
Permalink to quote #27 We work in the dark - we do what we can - we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art.
Permalink to quote #29 The practice of 'reviewing'... in general has nothing in common with the art of criticism.
Permalink to quote #26
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