The truth is， I conceive， that there is for most of us only one thing—beyond， of course， our duties of citizenship and our personal duties as sons， or husbands， or fathers， daughters， or wives， or mothers—that is worth doing well—that is to say， with all our energy. That one thing may be writing， or it may be making steam-engines， or laying bricks. But after that there are hundreds of things that are worth doing badly， with only part of our energy， for the sake of the relaxation they bring us， and for the contacts which they give us with our minds. And the sooner England realizes this， as once she did， the happier， the more contented， the more gracious， will our land be.
There are even， I maintain， things that are in themselves better done badly than well. Consider fishing， where one’s whole pleasure is often spoiled by having to kill a fish. Now， if one could contrive always to try to catch a fish， and never to do so， one might—But that is another story.
I. A. 威廉姆斯生于英格兰，在剑桥受过教育。第一次世界大战后，他成为伦敦《泰晤士报》的一名记者。威廉姆斯写了几本关于18世纪诗歌和戏剧方面的书，发表在各种期刊和杂志上，出版了他自己的诗集。以下这篇文章最早出现在1923年伦敦的《展望》一书中。
或许，对工作和创作而言，最大的威胁莫过于唯恐做得不好或者害怕做错。对于这个问题，这篇文章就是一种安慰了。威廉姆斯认为，很多事情都应该草草行事，这样，我们的生活才有意义，我们的个性才能得以发展完善。运动和音乐就是两个很好的例子，大多数人都酷爱运动和音乐，它们的确能给人带来乐趣，仅是这一点就够了，人们并不需要有多深的造诣。
查尔斯·拉姆写了一系列有关时下谬误的文章。可惜我一时记不清了。但如果不是狡猾的仆人突然误导我，我倒不觉得他写过什么公众交口称赞而我却认为有害的文章。下面这句似是而非的忠告，我从孩提时就印在脑海中：“如果一件事情值得去做，那么，就应该好好去做。”