"If a kitten crawls into an oven, is it a biscuit?"
There was an earnestness that robbed the question of any flippancy.
Houghton laughed. "No!"
"If a dub goes into college and gets flunked out in a month, is he a college man?"
"Hardly."
"Oh, but he calls himself one. He goes to Podunk all decorated up in geraniums and the rest of his life is a 'college man.' I'm not talking about him or the man who comes to college to learn to mix cocktails—inside. He may last to the junior year. I'm talking about the graduate—they're only about a tenth of the college. But they're the finished product. Mr. Kaufmann, you wouldn't try to sell gum that had only gone as far as the rolling-room, would you?"
"W'at—me?"
"Would you?"
"No." The junior partner was puzzled.
"That's because you want it to go through all the processes. Well, let's talk only about the boy who has gone all the way through the man factory."