一般人理解，“文人相轻”是文人（艺术家）的一种道德缺陷，但实质上可能是一种理念上的真诚。

        王尔德在《意向》中说道，“艺术的对象并不是专门家。艺术的诉诸对象乃是人类全体，因而它的表现虽殊，其道则一。所以艺术家最善于评论艺术这话便完全站不住脚，其实越是大家，便越评判不了他人的作品，甚至连他自己的东西也评判不了。那种将一个人变成艺术家的视线高度集中（但正由于它太聚精会神），往往使他的精妙审辨能力受到限制。”（Art does not address herself to the specialist. Her claim is thatshe is universal, and that in all her manifestations she is one. Indeed, so farfrom its being true that the artist is the best judge of other people’s work atall, and can hardly, in fact, judge of his own. That very concentraton ofvision that makes a man an artist, limits by its sheer intensity his faculty offine appreciation.）“不高明的艺术家才总是能够互相赏识，而美其名曰胸襟博大，不存偏见。但真正伟大的艺术家却很难想象，生活的展示或美的镕铸可以离开他选择的意境而获得成功。创造总是将它的全部批判力用之于它自己的领域的。它不会把这个用在别人的领域。恰恰是因为一个人干不了某件事情，他也最有资格去评判它。”（Bad artists always admire each other’s work. They call it beinglarge-minded and free from prejudice. But a truly great artist cannot conceiveof life being shown, or beauty fashioned, under any conditions other than thosethat he has selected. Creation employs all its critical faculty within its ownsphere. It may not use it in the sphere that belongs to others. It is exactlybecause a man cannot do a thing that he is proper judge of it.）上述中文为高健译，自《枕边书与床头灯：英美随笔译粹》