“Making a book is a craft, like making a clock; it needs more than native wit to be an author.”

C'est un métier que de faire un livre, comme de faire une pendule: il faut plus que de l'esprit pour être auteur.
Aphorism 3; Variant translation: It requires more than mere genius to be an author.
Les Caractères (1688), Des Ouvrages de l'Esprit

Original

C'est un métier que de faire un livre, comme de faire une pendule: il faut plus que de l'esprit pour être auteur.

Les Caractères (1688), Des Ouvrages de l'Esprit

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Do you have more details about the quote "Making a book is a craft, like making a clock; it needs more than native wit to be an author." by Jean de La Bruyère?
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Jean de La Bruyère 65
17th-century French writer and philosopher 1645–1696

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