Children Seldom Have A Proper Sense Of

In The Circle Where I Was Raised, I Knew Of No One Knowledgeable In The Visual Arts, No One Who Regularly Attended Musical Performances, And Only Two Adults Other Than My Teachers Who Spoke Without Embarrassment Of Poetry And Literature — Both Of These Being Women. As Far As I Can Recall, I Never Heard A Man Refer To A Good Or A Great Book. I Knew No One Who Had Mastered, Or Even Studied, Another Language From Choice. And Our Articulate, Conscious Life Proceeded Without Acknowledgement Of The Preceding Civilisations Which Had Produced It.

One Would Always Want To Think Of Oneself As Being On The Side Of Love, Ready To Recognize It And Wish It Well -but, When Confronted With It In Others, One So Often Resented It, Questioned Its True Nature, Secretly Dismissed The Particular Instance As Folly Or Promiscuity. Was It Merely Jealousy, Or A Reluctance To Admit So Noble And Enviable A Sentiment In Anyone But Oneself?

Did You Ever Notice How Easy It Is To Forgive A Person Any Number Of Faults For One Endearing Characteristic, For A Certain Style, Or Some Commitment To Life - While Someone With Many Good Qualities Is Insupportable For A Single Defect If It Happens To Be A Boring One?

Since The Moment Of The United Nations' Inception, Untold Energies Have Been Expended By Governments Not Only Toward The Exclusion Of Persons Of Principle And Distinction From The Organization's Leading Positions, But Toward The Installation Of Men Whose Character And Affiliations Would As Far As Possible Preclude Any Serious Challenge To Governmental Sovereignty.

... One Doesn't Really Profit From Experience; One Merely Learns To Predict The Next Mistake.