The savage, the peasant, the poor man, and woman are not what we call
intellectual, because they are not taught to know and manipulate
the materials of knowledge. The savage is outside the process from
geographical reasons; the peasant is not in the center of interest;
the poor man's needs are pressing, and do not permit of interests of
a mediate character; and woman does not participate because it is
neither necessary nor womanly.
Even the most serious women of the present day stand, in any work
they undertake, in precisely the same relation to men that the
amateur stands to the professional in games. They may be desperately
interested and may work to the limit of endurance at times; but, like
the amateur, they got into the game late, and have not had a life-time
of practice, or they do not have the advantage of that pace gained
only by competing incessantly with players of the very first rank.
No one will contend that the amateur in billiards has a nervous
organization less fitted to the game than the professional; it
is admitted that the difference lies in the constant practice of
the professional, the more exacting standards prevailing in the
professional ranks, and constant play in "fast company.
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