Freya Stark on Artists

By endurance the garland is won; ‘not without dusts and heat.’ It is the same human garland for all; but the artist, the most delicate of our instruments for joy or sorrow, endures more than others; like the mermaid in Hans Andersen’s tale, he dances before his love with swords in his feet; and the pain becomes unbearable if the things he suffers for and moves among are not immortal.