Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“it is only where a man is convinced of the truth and importance of his thoughts, that he feels the enthusiasm necessary for an untiring and assiduous effort to find the clearest, finest, and strongest expression for them”
- Source
- The Art of Literature
- Date
- 1851
- English wording
- T. Bailey Saunders — Translator · from German
Meaning of “it is only where a man is convinced…”
The passage connects conviction with revision effort: ideas considered important deserve sustained work toward clearer and stronger expression rather than careless presentation.
Where does it come from?
The Art of Literature, “On Style,” T. Bailey Saunders translation, Project Gutenberg #10714. Schopenhauer’s represented English essay says that conviction in the truth and importance of one’s thoughts supplies the enthusiasm for sustained work toward clearer and stronger expression. The volume rearranges Parerga material and the passage remains nineteenth-century literary counsel, not experimental writing science.
