We are born believing. A man bears beliefs as a tree bears apples.

More from The Conduct of Life

• The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.
• The measure of a master is his success in bringing all men round to his opinion twenty years later.
• A chief event of life is the day in which we have encountered a mind that startled us.
• A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him, I may think aloud.
• Artists must be sacrificed to their art. Like bees, they must put their lives into the sting they give.
• He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare, And he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.