"Sir Walter, with his 61 years of life, although he never wrote a novel until he was over 40, had, fortunately for the world, a longer working career than most of his brethren"
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Late bloomers love to be mythologized, but Conan Doyle’s line about Sir Walter Scott isn’t really motivational poster material. It’s a sly bit of literary bookkeeping: a reminder that art doesn’t arrive on a tidy schedule, and that the culture’s habit of treating early genius as the only genius is historically illiterate.
The sentence is built like a compliment, then quietly turns into an argument. “Fortunately for the world” carries the genteel glow of Victorian praise, but it also signals scarcity: Scott’s productivity is framed as a public good, almost a civic resource. Conan Doyle is nudging the reader to think in terms of output, longevity, and cultural impact, not just inspiration. The emphasis on Scott starting novel-writing “over 40” is less curiosity than corrective; it rebukes a system that imagines creative relevance expiring at midlife.
There’s subtext, too, in “brethren.” Conan Doyle positions writers as a guild with a shared fate: health, economics, and time. Most don’t get long “working careers” because the era didn’t guarantee them. Scott’s extended run becomes an exception worth thanking history for, and the gratitude has an edge. It implies a world where literature is contingent on bodies not breaking down and on circumstances allowing sustained labor.
Context matters: Conan Doyle is writing as someone who watched reputations calcify fast and markets demand constant production. Praising Scott’s late start is also self-justification by proxy: a defense of the long game, and a reminder that the canon is often made by stamina as much as spark.
The sentence is built like a compliment, then quietly turns into an argument. “Fortunately for the world” carries the genteel glow of Victorian praise, but it also signals scarcity: Scott’s productivity is framed as a public good, almost a civic resource. Conan Doyle is nudging the reader to think in terms of output, longevity, and cultural impact, not just inspiration. The emphasis on Scott starting novel-writing “over 40” is less curiosity than corrective; it rebukes a system that imagines creative relevance expiring at midlife.
There’s subtext, too, in “brethren.” Conan Doyle positions writers as a guild with a shared fate: health, economics, and time. Most don’t get long “working careers” because the era didn’t guarantee them. Scott’s extended run becomes an exception worth thanking history for, and the gratitude has an edge. It implies a world where literature is contingent on bodies not breaking down and on circumstances allowing sustained labor.
Context matters: Conan Doyle is writing as someone who watched reputations calcify fast and markets demand constant production. Praising Scott’s late start is also self-justification by proxy: a defense of the long game, and a reminder that the canon is often made by stamina as much as spark.
Quote Details
| Topic | Career |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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