but because it amused him; and if he separated himself and went off, he
had no resentment nor any pathetic feeling about being excluded.

When he went on to school he lived a sociable but isolated life. His
companions were companions rather than friends. He did not, I think,
ever form a romantic and adoring friendship, such as are common enough
with emotional boys. He did not give his heart away; he just took a
vivid and animated interest in the gossip, the interplay, the factions
and parties of his circle; but it was all rather a superficial life--he
used to say that he had neither aims nor ambitions--he took very little
interest in his work and not much interest in games. He just desired to
escape censure, and he was not greedy of praise. There was nothing
listless or dreamy about it all. If he neglected his work, it was
because he found talk and laughter more interesting. No string ran
through his days; they were just to be taken as they came, enjoyed,
dismissed. But he never wanted to appear other than he was, or to be
admired or deferred to. There was never any sense of pose about hint nor
the smallest affectation. He was very indifferent as to what was thought
of him, and not sensitive; but he held his own, and insisted on his
rights, allowed no dictation, followed no lead. All the time, I suppose,
he was gathering in impressions of the outsides of things--he did not
dip beyond that: he was full of quite definite tastes, desires, and
prejudices; and though he was interested in life, he was not
particularly interested in what lay behind it. He was not in the least
impressionable, in the sense that others influenced or diverted him
from his own ideas.

Neither had he any strong intellectual bent. The knowledge which he
needed he acquired quickly and soon forgot it. I do not think he ever
went deeply into things in those early days, or tried to perfect himself