Character? Ishould have thought it needed a good deal of character to throw up a careerafter half an hour's meditation, because you saw in another way of living amore intense significance. And it required still more character never to regretthe sudden step. But I said nothing, and Alec Carmichael proceededreflectively:"Of courseit would be hypocritical for me to pretend that I regret what Abraham did.After all, I've scored by it. " He puffed luxuriously at the long Coronahe was smoking. "But if I weren't personally concerned I should be sorryat the waste. It seems a rotten thing that a man should make such a hash oflife. "I wondered ifAbraham really had made a hash of life. Is to do what you most want, to liveunder the conditions that please you, in peace with yourself, to make a hash oflife; and is it success to be an eminent surgeon with ten thousand a year and abeautiful wife? I suppose it depends on what meaning you attach to life, theclaim which you acknowledge to society, and the claim of the individual. Butagain I held my tongue, for who am I to argue with a knight?个性？在我看来，一个人因为看到另外一种生活方式更有重大的意义，只经过半小时的考虑就甘愿抛弃一生的事业前途，这才需要很强的个性呢。贸然走出这一步，以后永不后悔，那需要的个性就更多了。但是我什么也没说。阿莱克·卡尔米凯尔继续沉思着说：“当然了，如果我对阿伯拉罕的行径故作遗憾，我这人也就太虚伪了。不管怎么说，正因为他走了这么一步，才让我占了便宜。”他吸着一支长长的寇罗纳牌哈瓦那雪茄烟，舒适地喷着烟圈。“但是如果这件事同我个人没有牵连的话，我是会为他虚掷才华感到可惜的。一个人竟这样糟蹋自己实在太令人心痛了。”我很怀疑，阿伯拉罕是否真的糟蹋了自己。做自己最想做的事，生活在自己喜爱的环境里，淡泊宁静、与世无争，这难道是糟蹋自己吗？与此相反，做一个著名的外科医生，年薪一万镑，娶一位美丽的妻子，就是成功吗？我想，这一切都取决于一个人如何看待生活的意义，取决于他认为对社会应尽什么义务，对自己有什么要求。但是我还是没有说什么；我有什么资格同一位爵士争辩呢？