human
Nothing settled by the meeting? said Mr. Buffle, echoing a despondent suggestion by Deacon Bates.
gpt
Of course not. You don't suppose that what theologians have been squabbling over for two thousand years can be settled in a day, do you? We made a beginning and that's a good half of anything. Why, I and every other man that builds boats have been hard at work for years, looking for the best model, and we haven't settled the question yet. We're in earnest about it--we can't help but be, for there's money in it, and while we're waiting we do the next best thing--we use the best ones we know about.
human
Don't you think you'd get at the model sooner, if some of you weren't pig-headed about your own, and too fond of abusing each other's?
gpt
Certainly, admitted Mr. Buffle,
human
There were a good many small tunes begun yesterday, then,
gpt
Well, said Mr. Buffle,
human
I thought something of the kind, myself, but a man can't break an old habit to pieces all at once. Things will be different before long, though.
gpt
There is no reason why they shouldn't, said Principal Alleman,
human
I suppose that's so,
gpt
In and of ourselves we can do nothing,
human
It's very odd, then, that we should have been told to do so much,
gpt
It was to teach us our dependence upon a higher power,
human
Are we only to be taught, and never to learn, then? asked Principal Alleman.
gpt
Some of my pupils seem to think so, but those who depend least upon the teacher and act most fully up to what they have been taught are the ones I call my best scholars.