You have become disillusioned about college. In the next few years you will suffer further disil¬ lusionment. That is the price of living.
“Every intelligent man with ideals eventually becomes a cynic. It is inevitable. He has stand¬ ards, and, granted that he is intelligent, he can¬ not fail to see how far mankind falls below those standards. The result is cynicism, and if he is truly intelligent, the cynicism is kindly. Having learned that man is frail, he expects little of him: therefore, if he judges at all, his judgment is tem¬ pered either with humor or with mercy.”
The dozen boys were sprawled lazily in theii chairs, their feet resting on the rungs of the chairs before them, but their eyes were fastened keenly on Henley. All that he was saying was of the greatest importance to them. They found comfort in his words, but the comfort raised new doubts, new problems.
“How does that affect college?” Winsor asked.
“It affects it very decidedly,” Henley replied
“You haven’t become true cynics yet; you expect too much of college. You forget that the men whc run the college and the men who attend it are at best human beings, and that means that very mud cannot be expected of them. You do worship'false gods. I find hope in the fact that you recognize the stuff of which your gods are made. I have great hopes for the American colleges, not because
