When I was a boy, a grim old doctor in a neighboring town was
struck down and crusht by a loaded sledge. He got up, staggered
a few paces, fell and died. He had been in attendance upon an
ancient lady, a connection of my own, who at that moment was
lying in a most critical condition. The news of the accident
reached her, but not its fatal character. Presently the
minister of the parish came in, and a brief conversation like
this followed: “Is the doctor badly hurt?” “Yes, badly.” “Does
he suffer much?” “He does not; he is easy.” And so the old
gentlewoman blest God and went off to sleep, to learn the whole
story at a fitter and safer moment. I know the minister was a
man of truth, and I think he showed himself in this instance a
man of wisdom.--OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
(788)
=Discretion in Attack=--See ATTACK, DISCRETION IN.