Not occasional, intermittent,
but steady, constant, daily, hourly--a purpose that
never relaxes.
A career as a singer means not only the routine, the
patient tedious work, the cutting out of time-wasting people
and time-wasting pleasures that are necessary to any and
all careers. It means in addition--for such a person--
sacrifices far beyond a character so undisciplined and so
corrupted by conventional life as is yours. The basis of a
singing career is health and strength. You must have
great physical strength to be able to sing operas. You
must have perfect health.
Diet and exercise. A routine life, its routine rigidly
adhered to, day in and day out, month after month, year
after year. Small and uninteresting and monotonous food,
nothing to drink, and, of course, no cigarettes. Such is
the secret of a reliable voice for you who have a ``delicate
throat''--which is the silly, shallow, and misleading way
of saying a delicate digestion, for sore throat always
means indigestion, never means anything else.
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