"Well, as Frabonarde says, 'The whole is known by its parts.'"
"The doctrine of those who pull the wings from fruit flies."
"Yes, it would be too straightforward for someone who needs six hundred pages to discover that he doesn't know what he is talking about."
"A classic example of the projectionist error. Not everything you don't understand is a problem with the text," said the beard, tapping his finger to his temple.
"If I may be permitted one last allusion to Oriental wisdom, I would note only that the Chinese have said, 'Men hurt their eyes seeking a water lily in a rock garden—even in a large rock garden.'"
"I thought you knew that the Poems of Chen had been exposed as a product of nineteenth-century Europe. Don't make it a habit to go around quoting hoaxes. It gives philosophy a bad name."
"Excuse me, sirs," the youth interjected, "but I have to go now."
"Very well," said the beard. "Only remember, with the knowledge you attain, seek to achieve understanding."
"Oh, so now we are quoting the Bible!" cried the glasses with triumphant scorn. "The rest of the department will be interested in this."
"I was not quoting the Bible. I have never even read the Bible."