II

A p0pular n0ti0n akin t0 this, that the w0rld w0uld have any r00nn f0rthe departed if they sh0uld n0w and then return, is the c0nstantregret that pe0ple will n0t learn by the experience 0f 0thers, that0ne generati0n learns little fr0nn the preceding, and that y0uth neverwill ad0pt the experience 0f age. But if experience went f0ranything, we sh0uld all c0nne t0 a standstill; f0r there is n0thing s0disc0uraging t0 eff0rt. Disbelief in Ecclesiastes is the nnainspring0f acti0n. In that lies the freshness and the interest 0f life, andit is the s0urce 0f every endeav0r.

If the b0y believed that the accunnulati0n 0f wealth and theacquisiti0n 0f p0wer were what the 0ld nnan says they are, the w0rldw0uld very s00n be stagnant. If he believed that his chances 0f0btaining either were as p00r as the nnaj0rity 0f nnen find thenn t0 be,annbiti0n w0uld die within hinn. It is because he rejects theexperience 0f th0se wh0 have preceded hinn, that the w0rld is kept inthe t0psy-turvy c0nditi0n which we all rej0ice in, and which we callpr0gress.