You will commit crimes probably. Most brave men do."
"But shall I be happy?"
"You are greedy, Julian, greedy of everything, knowledge of life, lust,
joy. You are never satisfied. That's because you and I fasted for so
long; and the greedy man is never quite happy while he is eating, for
he is always anticipating the next course. And, let philosophers say what
they will, happiness does not lie in anticipation. Go on eating. Pass on
from course to course. At last there will come a time, a beautiful time,
when your appetite will be satisfied and you will rest contented. But,
remember, not till you have journeyed through the whole _menu_, played
with your dessert and even drunk your black coffee. Go on, only go on.
Men and women are unhappy. They think it is because they have done too
much. They reproach themselves for a thousand things that they have done.
Fools! They are unhappy because they have not done enough. The text
which will haunt me on my deathbed will be: 'I have left undone those
things which I ought to have done.' Yes, during my long cursed years of
inaction, when I was called the Saint of Victoria Street. Ah! Julian, you
and I slept; we are awake now. You and I were dead; we are now alive. But
we are only at the beginning of our lives.
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