“Similar to this problem of idealism and materialism, but more fundamental still, is the problem of worldliness and otherworldliness. Is life a dream? Or is it real and earnest, as Longfellow would have it? Formerly I used to swing like a pendulum between the two extremes as most of my countrymen seem to do. But now I have gradually come to realize that life is a dream, but that something real and earnest may come out from a dream. And I have learned this from experience. It is thanks to my intensive participation in practical life that although I am by nature a star-gazer, yet I seldom fall into wells. For life, especially in politics, is like tightrope-walking. You have always to maintain your balance. A little slip may cause you to fall. Your superiors, your subordinates, your colleagues, your friends and finally job-seekers are all to be dealt with tactfully and yet with sincerity: with such tactfulness as to satisfy them, and with such sincerity as to satisfy yourself.”