Themostknowingpersonswemeetwitharesometimesatfault。Novaonaniapossumusomnesisnotanewnorprofoundaxiom,butitiswelltorememberitasacounterpoisetothatothertrulyAmericansayingofthelateMr。SamuelPatch,\"Somethingscanbedoneaswellasothers。\"Yes,somethings,butnotallthings。Weallknowmenandwomenwhohatetoadmittheirignoranceofanything。LikeTalkativein\"Pilgrim\'sProgress,\"theyarereadytoconverseof\"thingsheavenlyorthingsearthly;thingsmoralorthingsevangelical;
thingssacredorthingsprofane;thingspastorthingstocome;
thingsforeignorthingsathome;thingsmoreessentialorthingscircumstantial。\"
Talkativeisapttobeashallowfellow,andtosayfoolishthingsaboutmattersheonlyhalfunderstands,andyethehashisplaceinsociety。Thespecialistswouldgrowtobeintolerable,weretheynotcounterpoisedtosomedegreebythepeopleofgeneralintelligence。
Themanwhoknowstoomuchaboutoneparticularsubjectisliabletobecomeaterriblesocialinfliction。Someoftheworstbores（touseplainlanguage）weevermeetwitharerecognizedasexpertsofhighgradeintheirrespectivedepartments。Bewareofmakingsomuchasapinholeinthedamthatholdsbacktheirknowledge。Theyridetheirhobbieswithoutbitorbridle。ApoetonPegasus,recitinghisownverses,ishardlymoretobedreadedthanamountedspecialist。