DOI Kapitel:
Chapter V: Our Friendship
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62482#0146
58 REMINISCENCES OF G. F. WATTS
a flavour of truly civilised gentle influences and of satisfying
interests, which seemed to be part of the very air one
breathed in it. As in very holy people one is conscious
when with them that their every thought and action is
worked by the mainspring of their being—their consistency
in living up to the faith they profess—so, in the atmos-
phere surrounding Watts and his work, consistency of pur-
pose in carrying out the high impulses and aims which he
had determined should guide his art, infused a peculiarly
refined simplicity into everything surrounding him. One
felt always that the right thing led the way. It was Watts
and Watts alone whose personality dominated in his home
and over every detail in it.
“ A grain of glory mixed with humbleness
Cures both a fever and lethargickness.”1
It was this “grain of glory” which made his confiding friend-
ship in every sense helpful. It directed the thoughts on
to higher levels, not only in art, but in all directions. As
in training for a race the utmost care must be taken to be
in the best physical condition; so Watts felt, he used to
say, that in order to carry out his high aims his mental and
moral nature must be kept up to its highest level. Another
satisfaction in the daily intercourse we had with him arose
from the fact that Watts always took his friends, to say the
least, at their best. Nothing makes us better than to be
believed in by those whose opinion we value. One of
Watts’ greatest pleasures in life was to feel enthusiasm. This
seemed in him to be the natural reaction following nervous
depression. He was so generous in his feelings of sympathy
that he was apt to exaggerate both the merits of his friends
and the value of their artistic performances, but however
1 George Herbert.
a flavour of truly civilised gentle influences and of satisfying
interests, which seemed to be part of the very air one
breathed in it. As in very holy people one is conscious
when with them that their every thought and action is
worked by the mainspring of their being—their consistency
in living up to the faith they profess—so, in the atmos-
phere surrounding Watts and his work, consistency of pur-
pose in carrying out the high impulses and aims which he
had determined should guide his art, infused a peculiarly
refined simplicity into everything surrounding him. One
felt always that the right thing led the way. It was Watts
and Watts alone whose personality dominated in his home
and over every detail in it.
“ A grain of glory mixed with humbleness
Cures both a fever and lethargickness.”1
It was this “grain of glory” which made his confiding friend-
ship in every sense helpful. It directed the thoughts on
to higher levels, not only in art, but in all directions. As
in training for a race the utmost care must be taken to be
in the best physical condition; so Watts felt, he used to
say, that in order to carry out his high aims his mental and
moral nature must be kept up to its highest level. Another
satisfaction in the daily intercourse we had with him arose
from the fact that Watts always took his friends, to say the
least, at their best. Nothing makes us better than to be
believed in by those whose opinion we value. One of
Watts’ greatest pleasures in life was to feel enthusiasm. This
seemed in him to be the natural reaction following nervous
depression. He was so generous in his feelings of sympathy
that he was apt to exaggerate both the merits of his friends
and the value of their artistic performances, but however
1 George Herbert.