“Give me an example of what you mean,” Marian said.
“Many conventions are an example,” said Henry.
“Yes, they may be,” I answered.
“Conventions,” said Virginia, “are neither right nor wrong.”
“No,” I answered, “they are usually a matter of convenience. But some people do make the mistake of calling them right or wrong. Then again you will hear people argue whether or not it is right to tell the truth, under all circumstances.”
“You mean,” Henry said, “that they argue whether or not it is good to tell the truth as truth, not whether the truth will help us toward better relation.”
“Exactly.”
“I think,” said Virginia, “to tell the truth to hurt people’s feelings is wicked.”
Now they were just going to have an argument as to truth-telling, when I reminded them that this was what we did not want to do.
Marian spoke of school laws, and said that these were often without force or reason, and that she saw no great harm in breaking them. When I remembered the folly of laws in many schools, I could not disagree with her. “Of course,” she said, “one gets out of sympathy with that class of mortals called teachers.”