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At last she remarked that there were an awful lot of Methodists, and they couldn't be wrong, could they—not all those millions? That was too easy, said I restively (for the nearer you were to Ruth, the nicer she was to be near to) since there were more Roman Catholics than Methodists anyway; and they couldn't be wrong, could they—not all those hundreds of millions? An awful flicker of doubt appeared in her eyes. I slid my arm around her waist and murmured that if we were counting heads, the Buddhists were the boys for my money. She fled. The combination of my arm and those countless Buddhists was too much for her.
最后她說循道公會的教徒人數相當可觀，他們不可能錯，他們即便可能錯——難道幾百萬人都錯了么？那太有可能了，我焦躁不安地說（因為你離露絲越近，就越覺得她可愛），因為不管怎么說，羅馬天主教徒的人數要比循道公會的教徒多：因此，這些羅馬天主教徒是不會錯的，他們可能錯——難道幾億人都錯了嗎？她的眼中閃過一絲疑惑的目光。我用手臂摟住她的腰，喃喃道，如果我們計算人數的話，佛教徒人數恐怕要獨占鰲頭了。她急忙跑掉了。我手臂親昵的動作和關于無數佛教徒的話令她難以接受。
That night her father visited my father and left, red-cheeked and indignant. I was given the third degree to find out what had happened. I lost Ruth, and gained an undeserved reputation as a potential libertine.
那天晚上，露絲的父親前來拜訪了我父親，結果離開時是面紅耳赤并憤憤不平。于是他們逼問我到底發生了什么事情。就這樣，我失去了露絲，還背上了這樣的冤枉名聲：說我很可能將來是個浪蕩公子。
Grade-two thinking, though it filled life with fun and excitement, did not make for content. To find out the deficiencies of our elders satisfies the young ego but does not make for personal security. It took the swimmer some distance from the shore and left him there, out of his depth. A typical grade-two thinker will say, "What is truth?" There is still a higher grade of thought which says, "What is truth?" and sets out to find it.
第二級思考盡管讓人的生活充滿了樂趣和激動，但并沒有使人滿足。找出我們長輩的不足之處滿足了年輕人的自我愿望，但并不能給人以安全感。這就好比把游泳者帶到離岸較遠的地方，讓他在超過自己身高的深水里掙扎而無法靠岸一樣。一個典型的第二級思考者會問：“什么是真理？”而高級別的思考者也會提出同樣的問題：“什么是真理？”并開始著手去探求真理。
