"I am aquainted with but one person,
of whom I feel quilte sure that if he
were about to meet an old and tried
friend in the street, he would go up
and speak to him in the same manner,
whether in the interim he had become
a lord or a beggar. Upon reflection, I may
add a second to the list. Such is my
estimate of the permanence and sincerity
of our most boasted virtures. 'To be
honest as this world goes, is to be one
man picked out of then thousand'."

William Hazlitt
*Aphorisms On Man*
(#XXIX)

Seeing the news about Google's IPO today,
I sincerely hope, and that I am not
deluding myself that I feel I
have reason to hope, that Mr. Larry Paige
and Mr Sergey Brin fall into Hazlitt's
rare category.

If it's true, anyway, it's certainly
going to be good
luck for all us bloggers, as Google
has been unusually kind
to many of us so far, and I appreciate that.