And the distinction between pretending you are better than you are and beginning to be better in reality is finer than moral sleuthhounds conceive. I was, in intention, concealing only a part: I accepted his principles at once, made no attempt internally to defend my own ‘unexamined life’. When a boor first enters the society of courteous people what can he do, for a while, except imitate the motions? How can he learn except by imitation?
