Every now and then I find
something in my book that seems so good to me, I can't help thinking it
must have leaked in. I suppose other people discover that it came
through a leak, full as soon as I do. You must write a book or two to
find out how much and how little you know and have to say. Then you must
read some notices of it by somebody that loves you and one or two by
somebody that hates you. You 'll find yourself a very odd piece of
property after you 've been through these experiences. They 're trying
to the constitution; I'm always glad to hear that a friend is as well as
can be expected after he 's had a book.
You must n't think there are no better things in these pages of mine than
the ones I'm going to read you, but you may come across something here
that I forgot to say when we were talking over these matters.
He began, reading from the manuscript portion of his book:
--We find it hard to get and to keep any private property in thought.
Other people are all the time saying the same things we are hoarding to
say when we get ready. [He looked up from his book just here and said,
"Don't be afraid, I am not going to quote Pereant."] One of our old
boarders--the one that called himself "The Professor" I think it
was--said some pretty audacious things about what he called "pathological
piety," as I remember, in one of his papers.
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