Rats in the Cellar

Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is?

Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light."

-- C.S. Lewis

Being, Not Seeming

True worth is in being, not seeming, -
In doing, each day that goes by,
Some little good - not in dreaming
Of great things to do by and by.
- Cary