_He:_ Do you not grant that Alfred the Great was the real creator of the
English Kingdom?

_I:_ Never. Millions and millions of human creatures are built into this
building that we call England, or English history, or English
civilisation.

_He:_ And what about the man who built St. Paul's Cathedral?

_I:_ It is a collective work, as are all the great works that have been
done. The architecture of St. Paul's is one of the ancient styles, and
no style in architecture was ever invented or created by one person, but
by generations and generations.

_He:_ And what about Victor Hugo and Milton? Are they not great poets?

_I:_ Yes, they are if compared with certain minor poets, but they are
not great if compared with the popular poetry of India or Greece.
Mahabarata, the Koran, and Zend-Avesta, and the Bible, are products of
collective efforts--therefore they are superior to every personal
effort.

_He:_ Do you not appreciate the great economists and what they did for
the household, and common-wealth in general?

_I:_ Certainly I do; but their work is too much overestimated. Not a
handful of economic writers, like Adam Smith and Marx, but the common
genius of generations and generations arranged the house, set the
furniture, created the cooking, constructed towns, invented plays and