A whole civilization had come to an abrupt stalemate because its men had no better basis of living than public opinion.

What great human forces meet and come to grips with each other between every sunrise and sunset!

Adulthood was just a mask that people wore, the mask made up of a thick jowl and double chin and diamond earrings, or a green sporting shirt, but within it a man kept up the nonsense of his infancy, worse now for being without the innocence and the pure joy. Only the values of commerce gave this state a gloss of importance and urgency.