QUEEN VICTORIA
CHAPTER II
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Only to the pure and the true does Nature resign herself and reveal her secrets.—Goethe. I am sure that every girl wishes to become accomplished, and I am quite as certain that every girl can become so if she will.
My dictionary defines an accomplishment as an "acquirement or attainment that tends to perfect or equip in character, manners, or person."
Every man carries with him the world in which he must live, the stage and the scenery for his own play.— F. Marion Crawford. Surely every girl can do something, or has acquired some special line of knowledge, that is covered by this broad definition.
It means that every girl who can sweep a room; read French or German The best is yet unwritten, for we grow from more to more.—Sam Walter Foss. or English as it should be read; bake a loaf of bread; play tennis; darn a stocking; play the violin or pianoforte; give the names of flowers and birds and butterflies; write a neat, well-composed letter, either in longhand or shorthand; draw or paint pictures; make a bed or Notwithstanding a faculty be born with us, there are several methods for cultivating and improving it.—Addison. do one or more of a thousand and one other things is accomplished. The more things she can do and the greater the number of subjects on which she is informed, the more highly is she accomplished.
It is understood, as a matter of course, that thoroughness in one’s accomplishments is the true measure of his worth. One who knows a few subjects very well is no doubt more accomplished than one who has only a superficial "smatter" of knowledge concerning many.
Every truth in the universe makes a close joint with every other truth.—Melvin L. Severy. We can all readily understand how much more pleasing it is to hear a true virtuoso play the violin or pianoforte than it is to listen to a beginner who can perform indifferently on a number of instruments.