But you are a
fool if in the back of your head you do not know it is possible that you
are mistaken. All that you can claim is that that is the thing as you
see it now and that you cannot stand still; that you must push forward
the things that are right. It may turn out that you made mistakes, but
what you do know is your direction, and you are sure you are moving in
that way. I was once a college reformer, until discouraged, and I
remember a classmate of mine saying, "Why, man, can't you let anything
alone?" I said, "I let everything alone that you can show me is not
itself moving in the wrong direction, but I am not going to let those
things alone that I see are going downhill"; and I borrowed this
illustration from an ingenious writer. He says, "If you have a post that
is painted white and want to keep it white, you cannot let it alone; and
if anybody says to you, 'Why don't you let that post alone,' you will
say, 'Because I want it to stay white, and therefore I have got to paint
it at least every second year.'" There isn't anything in this world that
will not change if you absolutely let it alone, and therefore you have
constantly to be attending to it to see that it is being taken care of
in the right way and that, if it is part of the motive force of the
world, it is moving in the right direction.
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