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Kodell nodded. “Well, you know what Salvor Hardin used to say— ‘Never let your sense of morals keep you from doing what is right.’ ” “At the moment, I haven’t got a sense of morals,” muttered Branno. “I have a sense of boneweariness. And yet—I could name a number of people I would sooner lose than Golan Trevize. He is a handsome young man. —And, of course, he knows it.” Her last words slurred as she closed her eyes and fell into a light sleep.
“I scarcely know, to be honest with you, dear fel—, I mean, my dear Trevize. I presume I was overly concerned with my research. When one’s home has a really excellent computer capable of reaching other computers anywhere in the Galaxy, one scarcely needs to budge, you know. —Somehow I expected spaceships to be larger than this.”
“It seems to me, Golan, that the advance of civilization is nothing but an exercise in the limiting of privacy.”
“There’s nothing to it. All you have to do is take a close look at yourself and you will understand everyone else. We’re in no way different ourselves. How would Seldon have worked out his Plan—and I don’t care how subtle his mathematics was—if he didn’t understand people; and how could he have done that if people weren’t easy to understand? You show me someone who can’t understand people and I’ll show you someone who has built up a false image of himself—no offense intended.”
“So? Interesting!” said Gendibal with no obvious conviction. “And better yet. To know when a truth will do is admirable, since no nontruth can be presented with the same sincerity. Palver once said, ‘The closer to the truth, the better the lie, and the truth itself, when it can be used, is the best lie.’
“It is no shame to aspire to something even if it is beyond your reach. You are now too old to be made a scholar after my fashion, but you are never too old to learn more than you already know and to become able to do more than you already can. I will teach you something about this ship. By the time we reach our destination, you will know quite a bit about it.”
“You seem sane to me. Perhaps I am as insane as you and am under the same illusion, but that sort of argument gets us nowhere. All humanity could share a common insanity and be immersed in a common illusion while living in a common chaos. That can’t be disproved, but we have no choice but to follow our senses.” And then, abruptly, he said, “In fact, I’ve been doing some reasoning myself.”
He could hear Mayor Branno’s voice say firmly, “Free will!” Speaker Gendibal’s voice said peremptorily, “Guidance and peace!” Novi’s voice said wistfully, “Life.”
Kodell nodded. “We abandoned the appearance of power to preserve the essence of it.”
