"You mean monetarily?" Guy asked.
His father did not answer.
"You wouldn't count as a successful issue recognition from the people who care for poetry?" Guy went on.
"I'm not particularly impressed by contemporary taste," said Mr. Hazlewood. "We seem to me to be living in a time when all the great men have gone, and the new generation does not appear likely to fill very adequately the gap they have left."
"I wonder if there has ever been a time when people have not said just what you're saying? Do you seriously think you'd recognize a great man if you saw him?"
"I hope I should," said his father looking perfectly convinced that he would.
"Well, I don't believe you would," said Guy. "How do you know I'm not a great man?"
His father laughed dryly.
"I don't know, my dear Guy, of course and nothing would gratify me more than to find out that you were. But at least you'll allow me to observe that great men are generally remarkable for their modesty."
"Yes, after they've been accorded the homage of the world," Guy argued. "They can afford to be modest then. I fancy that most of them were self-confident in their youth. I hope they were, poor devils. It must have been miserable for most of them, if they weren't."