Arthur Mee, on Freelance Writing

A Rare Courage. And, because [a writer must be at his best always], he must have a courage that is one of the rarest things in the world — the courage to cut off his income at any moment. He will find that the strain is at times greater than he can bear, and there is only one penalty, as tragic as it is sure, for the man who neglects the warning that Nature always gives in time. No man should rely upon a free life as a journalist who is not prepared to face the risk of having to stop his income for a week or a month or a longer period at the bidding of a master who cannot be disobeyed.

From "The Freelance Journalist", itself an excerpt from The Harmsworth Self-Educator, written in the late 19th century.