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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Familiar Studies of Men and Books by Robert Louis Stevenson: study that he even grudged himself natural repose; and when
he grew drowsy over his books he would, if it was summer, put
mosquitoes up his sleeve; and, if it was winter, take off his
shoes and run barefoot on the snow. His handwriting was
exceptionally villainous; poet though he was, he had no taste
for what was elegant; and in a country where to write
beautifully was not the mark of a scrivener but an admired
accomplishment for gentlemen, he suffered his letters to be
jolted out of him by the press of matter and the heat of his
convictions. He would not tolerate even the appearance of a
bribe; for bribery lay at the root of much that was evil in
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