I have watched men in the coffee house argue with a fury that would melt iron, yet their minds are as empty as a hollow log. They take up a topic with such solemn gravity that they believe it is of consequence to the kingdom, when it is only enough to justify their own talk for three days. The wit they muster is not fire but smoke, designed merely to keep the conversation going until the tea grows cold and the room fills with stale air.

I ask you to look at your own debates before you speak another word. Do not let the noise of the multitude convince you that you are thinking clearly. If your argument cannot stand without shouting or borrowing from a neighbor’s idea, then it is no wit at all. True thought does not need three days to justify itself; it stands firm in a single moment of truth.