Because with him everything turned into ethical emotion, he could speak convincingly of the immorality of ornament, of the hygiene of simple shapes, and of the beery fumes of Wagnerian music, as was in keeping with the new artistic taste; and even his future father-in-law, who had a painter’s brain like an out- spread peacock’s tail, had been intimidated by it. So it was beyond all doubt that Walter could look back on successes.
