"I knew nothing about the theatre, and so asked the advice of my best friend among the players, , as to what I should do, and his advice was so extraordinary that I took it as a good joke until I noticed that I was creating chaos in the theatre. "Treat us as though we were children," he said shortly. "Nice children, of course; children that you're fond of, but not as grownups. And for God's sake, whatever you do, don't praise us. That drives us mad." It is the best advice that was ever given to a man of the theatre, if only he would be intelligent enough to appreciate it. I wasn't; not for a long time. Arthur never made a great reputation as an actor; he was far too discerning for that; and it was only when I had almost wrecked the company that I realized how discerning he was."