“Stars. I’d like some of our chaps to hear you say that.”
“It is. Darwin gossiped about monkeys and in his old age he looked exactly like one and regretted that he had neglected music.”
“You can’t have it both ways. Each man must pursue one line or another.”
“Poor dears yes.”
“You’re inclined to pity us all.”
“That’s English humanitarianism may be.”
“I’m not a humanitarian. I can’t bear humanity, in the mass. I think it’s a frightful idea.”
“A fairly solid idea.”
“I prefer … the equator, and the moon, and the plane of the ecliptic; I think the plane of the ecliptic is a perfectly lovely thing.”
“It’s a scientific discovery.”
“Yes but not on the body of an animal.”
“The body of the chap who began all that had some pretty hard sufferings.”
“Do you know the schoolboy’s definition of the equator?”
“No, but I guess it’s a good one.”
“A menagerie lion running round the world once in every twenty-four hours. I think it’s an absolutely perfect idea.”
“I guess that’s good enough to stop on.”