AUCTOR. I have no time to tell you, for it would lead us into a
discussion on Astrology, and then perhaps to a question of physical
science, and then you would find I was not orthodox, and perhaps
denounce me to the authorities.
I will tell you this much; it is the moment (not the year or the
month, mind you, nor even the hour, but the very second) when a man is
grown up, when he sees things as they are (that is, backwards), and
feels solidly himself. Do I make myself clear? No matter, it is the
Shock of Maturity, and that must suffice for you.
But perhaps you have been reading little brown books on Evolution, and
you don't believe in Catastrophes, or Climaxes, or Definitions? Eh?
Tell me, do you believe in the peak of the Matterhorn, and have you
doubts on the points of needles? Can the sun be said truly to rise or
set, and is there any exact meaning in the phrase, 'Done to a turn' as
applied to omelettes? You know there is; and so also you must believe
in Categories, and you must admit differences of kind as well as of
degree, and you must accept exact definition and believe in all that
your fathers did, that were wiser men than you, as is easily proved if
you will but imagine yourself for but one moment introduced into the
presence of your ancestors, and ask yourself which would look the
fool.
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