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Show BOOKS THAT I LOVED AS A BOY "JT is Oile thing," said my Uncle Peter, "to be perfectly honest. But it is quite another thing to tell the truth." "Are you honest in that remark," I asked, "or are you merely telling the truth ? " "Both," he answered, with twinkling eyes, "for that is an abstract remark, in which species of discourse truth-telling is comparatively easy. Abstract remarks are a great relief to the lazy honest man. They spare him the trouble of meticulous investigation of unimportant facts. But a concrete remark, touching upon a number of small details, is full of traps for the truth-teller." "You agree, then," said I, "with what the Psalmist said in his haste: 'All men are liars' ? " "Not in the least," he replied, laying down the volume which he was apparently reading when he interrupted himself. "I have leisure enough to perceive at once the falsity of that observation which the honest Psalmist recorded for our amusement. 103 |