QUOTE : I caught a glimmer of an abysmal truth. The people here wanted to pass the time as comfortably as possible, without having to deal with questions that couldn't be answered with a simple 'yes', 'no', or 'I don't know'. No one around me was doing anything except the best imitation they could of what they'd seen other people do before. Parents imitated <i> their </i> parents, kindergarten teachers other kindergarten teachers, pupils other pupils, and clergymen and educators each other and their books. The only variation was in what they forgot to imitate.