I’m especially taken by a letter extract Hilary Spurling includes (on page 337) in her biography (much recommended) ) of the first half of Matisse’s life. Thirty-seven-year-old Matisse, still poor and maligned, is writing to his artist friend Henri Manguin:
A slowing down of sales or even a full stop doesn’t mean all is lost. . . . On the contrary, you lose your nerve and stop working, you justify your detractors, and compromise your own future. . . . All you have to do is work. If you’re in trouble, it’s through work that you will get out of it. If you know clearly where you’re going, if your ideas are solidly based, it’s through work that you will make them succeed.
All I have to do is work.