input.txt

"Stop blushing. I'm not needling, really I'm not. Do you know, I
had a dream an hour ago. I lay down for a cat-nap and in this dream
you and I, Montag, got into a furious debate on books. You towered
with rage, yelled quotes at me. I calmly parried every thrust. Power, I
said, And you, quoting Dr. Johnson, said `Knowledge is more than
equivalent to force!' And I said, `Well, Dr. Johnson also said, dear boy,
that "He is no wise man that will quit a certainty for an uncertainty.'"
Stick with the fireman, Montag. All else is dreary chaos!"
"Don't listen," whispered Faber. "He's trying to confuse. He's
slippery. Watch out!"
Beatty chuckled. "And you said, quoting, `Truth will come to light,
murder will not be hid long!' And I cried in good humour, 'Oh God, he
speaks only of his horse!' And `The Devil can cite Scripture for his
purpose.' And you yelled, 'This age thinks better of a gilded fool, than
of a threadbare saint in wisdom's school!' And I whispered gently, 'The
dignity of truth is lost with much protesting.' And you screamed,
'Carcasses bleed at the sight of the murderer!' And I said, patting your
hand, 'What, do I give you trench mouth?' And you shrieked,
'Knowledge is power!' and 'A dwarf on a giant's shoulders of the
furthest of the two!' and I summed my side up with rare serenity in,
'The folly of mistaking a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for
a spring of capital truths, and oneself as an oracle, is inborn in us, Mr.
Valery once said.'" 

I think you may like to know something of his person and character. He 
had an excellent constitution of body, was of middle stature, but well set, 
and very strong; he was ingenious, could draw prettily, was skilled a little 
in music, and had a clear, pleasing voice, so that when he played psalm tunes
 on his violin and sung withal, as he sometimes did in an evening after 
the business of the day was over, it was extremely agreeable to hear. He had 
a mechanical genius too, and, on occasion, was very handy in the use of other 
tradesmen's tools; but his great excellence lay in a sound understanding and 
solid judgment in prudential matters, both in private and publick affairs. 
In the latter, indeed, he was never employed, the numerous family he had to 
educate and the straitness of his circumstances keeping him close to his trade; 
but I remember well his being frequently visited by leading people, who 
consulted him for his opinion in affairs of the town or of the church he 
belonged to, and showed a good deal of respect for his judgment and advice: 
he was also much consulted by private persons about their affairs when any difficulty 
occurred, and frequently chosen an arbitrator between contending parties. 
At his table he liked to have, as often as he could, some sensible friend or 
neighbor to converse with, and always took care to start some ingenious or useful 
topic for discourse, which might tend to improve the minds of his children. 
By this means he turned our attention to what was good, just, and prudent in 
the conduct of life; and little or no notice was ever taken of what related to 
the victuals on the table, whether it was well or ill dressed, in or out of season, 
of good or bad flavor, preferable or inferior to this or that other thing 
of the kind, so that I was bro't up in such a perfect inattention to those matters 
as to be quite indifferent what kind of food was set before me, and so unobservant of 
it, that to this day if I am asked I can scarce tell a few hours after dinner 
what I dined upon. This has been a convenience to me in traveling, where my 
companions have been sometimes very unhappy for want of a suitable gratification 
of their more delicate, because better instructed, tastes and appetites.