Write something for us, and never mind the rest of the world; put the truth you know into it, and the love you have felt, and the little fun that keeps us alive, and you will find that hearts will answer to hearts, and the world will take what is good, and let the rest go.
Marmee cures paralysis by narrowing the audience to love. Truth, affection, and humor become Jo’s palette. The advice is practical craft wrapped in tenderness. In the story, it midwifes Jo’s better work. The longer pull names why: hearts answer to hearts. Readers hear a portable rule for any art. Serve first; the rest follows.