"Yes, that too, if you mean a sense of being bound to one because of something he has done in the past. For instance, I am obliged to Philip for his food, his house, my life, and this cigarette, but I scarcely feel that that would imply that I must sacrifice my greatest desire in life as payment if necessary. Of course, it isn't necessary, but if it were, I should refuse."
"I think you would not," asserted Philip.
"I know I would. I rather believe you would also, though it might be that you would not."
"I would sacrifice anything to pay a debt of gratitude." Philip spoke warmly.
"You would—perhaps—but in so doing would you not feel that gratitude was the thing of supreme worth to yourself?"
"Not necessarily. I might even suffer all my life for having done so."
"Impossible. You would either redeem your sense of life's value by a new belief, or you would die."
"Then you think a man can do as he pleases and maintain his self-respect, his personal integrity?"
"He will find some way to make himself feel worth while, or he will cease to be."
"You think that a criminal, or perhaps better, a person abandoned to vice, feels justified?"