laud some new folly in these matters,
you will imitate it. That is just why literary follies have such vogue
in Germany. The Germans are a very tolerant people--everybody can see
that! Their maxim is--_Hanc veniam damns petimusque vicissim._

SECTION 32. When he is young, a man of noble character fancies that
the relations prevailing amongst mankind, and the alliances to which
these relations lead, are at bottom and essentially, _ideal_ in their
nature; that is to say, that they rest upon similarity of disposition
or sentiment, or taste, or intellectual power, and so on.

But, later on, he finds out that it is a _real_ foundation which
underlies these alliances; that they are based upon some _material_
interest. This is the true foundation of almost all alliances: nay,
most men have no notion of an alliance resting upon any other basis.
Accordingly we find that a man is always measured by the office he
holds, or by his occupation, nationality, or family relations--in a
word, by the position and character which have been assigned him
in the conventional arrangements of life, where he is ticketed and
treated as so much goods. Reference to what he is in himself, as a
man--to the measure of his own personal qualities--is never made
unless for convenience' sake: and so that view of a man is something
exceptional, to be set aside and ignored, the moment that anyone finds
it disagreeable; and this is what usually happens. But the more of
personal worth a man has, the less pleasure he will take in these
conventional arrangements; and he will try to withdraw from the sphere
in which they apply. The reason why these arrangements exist at all,
is simply that in this world of ours misery and need are the chief
features: therefore it is everywhere the essential and paramount
business of life to devise the means of alleviating them.

SECTION 33. As paper-money circulates in the world instead of real
coin, so, is the place of true esteem and genuine friendship, you have
the outward appearance of it--a mimic show made to look as much like
the real thing as possible.

On the other hand, it may be asked whether there are any people who
really deserve the true coin. For my own part, I should certainly pay
more respect to an honest dog wagging his tail than to a hundred such
demonstrations of human regard.

True and genuine friendship presupposes a strong sympathy with the
weal and woe of another--purely objective in its character and