He will do nothing beneath it, and while he is waiting for inspiration, his imagination, his nerves, his senses must have something to amuse them.
This is a highly philosophical way of saying that he has taken to dissipation, and that he has just been spending a month at Naples--a city where 'pleasure' is actively cultivated--in very bad company.
Are they all like that, all the men of genius?
There are a great many artists here who hammer away at their trade with exemplary industry; in fact I am surprised at their success in reducing the matter to a steady, daily grind: but I really don't think that one of them has his exquisite quality of talent.

It is in the matter of quantity that he has broken down.

The bottle won't pour; he turns it upside down; it 's no use! Sometimes he declares it 's empty--that he has done all he was made to do.

This I consider great nonsense; but I would nevertheless take him on his own terms if it was only I that was concerned.

But I keep thinking of those two praying, trusting neighbors of yours, and I feel wretchedly like a swindler.