“ A man can grow gray in great campaigns, and still have the soul of a schoolboy. A man can return with a great reputation from India and be put in charge of a great public treasure, and still have the soul of a schoolboy, waiting to be awakened by an accident. ”
G. K. Chesterton, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1922). copy citation
| Author | G. K. Chesterton |
|---|---|
| Source | The Man Who Knew Too Much |
| Topic | awakening reputation |
| Date | 1922 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1720/1720-h/1720-h.htm |
Context
““it rather depends which schoolboy.”
“What on earth do you mean?”
“The soul of a schoolboy is a curious thing,” Fisher continued, in a meditative manner. “It can survive a great many things besides climbing out of a chimney. A man can grow gray in great campaigns, and still have the soul of a schoolboy. A man can return with a great reputation from India and be put in charge of a great public treasure, and still have the soul of a schoolboy, waiting to be awakened by an accident. And it is ten times more so when to the schoolboy you add the skeptic, who is generally a sort of stunted schoolboy. You said just now that things might be done by religious mania. Have you ever heard of irreligious mania?”
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