"I would not put too much faith in 'them,' Helena," she said. "'They' often say a great deal that is not true."
"But one must attend to it, holy Mother!" I answered.
"Why?" replied she.
"Oh, because it would never do!"
"What would never do?"
"To despise the opinion of society."
"Why?" she gently persisted.
Really, I found it rather difficult to say why.
"Methinks, Helena, I have seen thee despise the opinion of society, when it contradicted thy will. Is it not more reasonable to despise it, when it contradicts God's will?"
"Holy Mother, I pray you, tell me—is that the world?" said I. "Because my nurse, old Marguerite, says, that Monseigneur Saint John bade us beware of the world, and the flesh, as well as the Devil: and I am not quite sure what it means, except that the world is other people, and the flesh is me. But how can I be inimical to my own salvation?"