human
Now do you see why I feel so terrified when anyone proposes to narrow down his existence, even in the smallest particular, for my sake? asked Hadria.
gpt
It is because I see what awful power a human being may acquire of ravaging and of ruling other lives, and I don't want to acquire that power. I see that the tyranny may be perfectly well-intentioned, and indeed scarcely to be called tyranny, for it is but half conscious, yet only the more irresistible for that.
human
It is one's own fault if one submits to _conscious_ tyranny, the Professor put in,
gpt
A mere _demand_ can be resisted, Hadria added;
human
I don't think you are in much danger of grudging liberty to your neighbours, Hadria; so you need not be so frightened of becoming a vampire, as I think you call it.
gpt
Not _now_, but how can one tell what the result of years and years of monotonous existence may be, or the effect of example? How did it happen that my mother came to feel aggrieved if her daughters claimed some right of choice in the ordering of their lives? I suppose it is because _her_ mother felt aggrieved if _she_ ventured to call her soul her own.
human
But it is true, said Hadria.
gpt
Very few of us, if any, are in the least original as regards our sorrowing. We follow the fashion. We are not so presumptuous as to decide for ourselves what shall afflict us.
human
Or what shall transport us with joy,
gpt
Still less perhaps. Tradition says 'Weep, this is the moment,' or 'Rejoice, the hour has come,' and we chant our dirge or kindle our bonfires accordingly. Why, it means a little martyrdom to the occasional sinner who selects his own occasion for sorrow or for joy.