Every moment in our lives is embedded in the extraordinary architecture of our minds. It is astonishing how an old song heard momentarily, a sudden taste from yesteryear felt on the tongue again, a glimpse of an ancient picture or fading letter, can recall memories in an overwhelming flood. I was sorting out old papers and memorabilia in my study and I came across a snapshot of a friend from long ago and the memory banks in my mind lit up and he, and the friendship I had with him and others, came vividly to life once more.
Fundamentally, I suppose, man is a solitary creature. What goes on in the deepest parts of a man’s head and heart is ultimately unknowable to anyone else. And certainly in the real crises of life, including death, man finds himself very much alone. Yet in between times men are pre-eminently social animals. Some of the greatest satisfaction we ever get we find in the fellowship of others.
