human
You're tired; I'm afraid you have been working too hard,
gpt
The weather accounts for it, not the work, he answered.
human
It's depressing to feel that all you've done may lead to nothing.
gpt
Very true, Mowbray assented.
human
You're fortunate if this is the first time you have been troubled by the feeling. Many of us have got used to it; but one must go on.
gpt
It's hard to fight a losing battle, sir.
human
It is, said Mowbray grimly.
gpt
That it really does not matter in the end whether you lose or not, so long as you're on the right side, doesn't seem to give one much consolation. But your crop strikes me as looking better than ours.
human
I plowed deep; the sub-soil holds the moisture. Of course, with horse-traction----
gpt
I can't deny that your machines have their advantages, the Colonel said.
human
They'd be useful if you could keep them in their place as servants; the danger is that they'll become your masters. When you have bought them you must make them pay, and that puts you under the yoke of an iron thing that demands to be handled with the sternest economy. The balance sheet's the only standard it leaves you--and you have to make some sacrifices if you mean to come out on the credit side. Your finer feelings and self-respect often have to go.
gpt
I'm not sure they need go; but, in a way, you're right. You must strike a balance, or the machines that cost so much will break you. For all that, it's useful as a test; the result of bad work shows when you come to the reckoning. I can't see that to avoid waste must be demoralizing.
human
It isn't. The harm begins when you set too high a value on economical efficiency.