Ellen G. White and Her Critics

The Polishing of Her Manuscripts

Her assistants were called upon, not to do creative, original work on her manuscripts, not to change the thought or intent, but simply to correct possible errors of grammar, to improve sentence structure, and the like, which, for lack of a better word, is sometimes described as polishing a manuscript. It would have been a EGWC 485.4

very unprofitable use of Mrs. White’s time if she had done this painstaking, detail work. EGWC 486.1

All the polishing in the world will not make a pebble into a precious stone. Nor does polishing change in any way the intrinsic quality of a diamond. The polishing only makes the quality more evident. Even so with Mrs. White’s writings and the so-called polishing done by literary assistants. ^* EGWC 486.2