that matter most in life: peace and joy."

I agreed with him, for I had found the same to be true in my own
experiences. I then asked him, "When will this grand offensive be
undertaken?"

"Tomorrow," he said bluntly.

"Tomorrow? Isn't that rather soon?"

"Why? Fate has been fulfilled so far, why wait when it is time to act?
Maybe you misunderstood my meaning: it is not our philosophy to simply
let things go as they will. Instead we relax and let things take their
course when it is not in our power to do anything effective, but when
the time comes to act, we act swiftly and do not delay. In a word, we do
not force fate, either by forcing action where patience is needed, nor
by forcing patience where action is needed."

"That sounds well enough," I said, "But the difficulty lies in the
correct classification of the situation, or in other words, deciding if
patience or action is needed."

"Yes, of course, but in this case it has been decided to attack
tomorrow, and there is nothing left to do but to attack tomorrow. But do
not yet let your spirits be dampened by the onset of war, for tonight is
the Feast of the Hershonites, and there will be great celebrating and
rejoicing this evening. Forget about the troubles of tomorrow and enjoy
the celebrations of today, as I always say. And it is now time for the
celebrating to begin, so let us be off."