I had an inkling of it--after that rag. But now it's as
clear as daylight. I don't know if you mean to go on with me, after
what's happened, but anyhow I want you to know, whether you end our
friendship or not-- "
"Billy, don't be an old ass," said Benham.
Both young men paused for a moment. They made no demonstrations.
But the strain was at an end between them.
"I've thought it all out," Billy went on with a sudden buoyancy.
"We two are both of the same kind of men. Only you see, Benham, you
have a natural pride and I haven't. You have pride. But we are
both intellectuals. We both belong to what the Russians call the
Intelligentsia. We have ideas, we have imagination, that is our
strength. And that is our weakness. That makes us moral light-
weights. We are flimsy and uncertain people. All intellectuals are
flimsy and uncertain people. It's not only that they are critical
and fastidious; they are weak-handed. They look about them; their
attention wanders. Unless they have got a habit of controlling
themselves and forcing themselves and holding themselves together.
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