OCR Text |
Show CHRYSALIS PAGE 63 exaggerated virtue in the world." Touch. "I am not naive." "Like a lamb," he said softly. "Some for the glories of this world, and some sigh for The Prophet's Paradise to come; Ah, take the cash, and let the credit go Nor heed the rumble of the distant drum! Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend, Before we too into the Dust descend: Dust into dust, and under dust to lie, Sans wine, sans song, sans singer, and sans-end. "Omar Kaayam," he quoted. He'd read Kant and Huxley, too. "Life is short," he said. "All our lives end up in dirt. There is no plan, except whatever we make for ourselves. Right and wrong are nice, shadowy words. There is no God. Men make their own rules. Do you really believe I'm going to burn forever in somebody's fire if I say there is no God? Are you afraid I'll ruin your chances of salvation?" I shrugged. A half dozen incompatible spirits dueled inside my head, half of them angels and the other half goat-footed beasts. I felt, with guilt, that Paul might be right. I thought |