“When he had shown me all he led me to his door. "Why do you collect such things?" I asked hime before I ventured out upon the Strand.
"When a child is born, he looks first only to his mother. As he grows he learns he has an entire household around him, filled with servants and sweets. Still later he ventures into the streets, and hears the ragman cry, or sees the cocks fight. He learns his letters, his Latin, his arithmetic. Always he is looking beyond himself, and learning. But one day, if he is like most men, he stops. He thinks he has learned all."

He smiled at me.

"I did not choose to stop, that is all.”