Book IV: The Weaving. Chapter VI: The Tapestry Completed (Gordon Caruthers is the adolescent protagonist at the novel’s public school named Fernhurst.)
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”Only the superficial do not judge by appearances," Wilde had said, mocking at society; and he had been right. Life was a sham, a mass of muddled evolutions; the world was too slack to find out the truth, or perhaps it was afraid to discover it. For the truth was not pleasant. Gordon did not know what it was; all he saw was that life was built of shams, that no one worshipped anything but the god of things that seem. He lay supine, cursing at the darkness.

— Alec Waugh

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "”Only the superficial do not judge by appearances," Wilde had said, mocking at society; and he had been right. Life was a sham, a mass of muddled evolutions; the world was too slack to find out the truth, or perhaps it was afraid to discover it. For the truth was not pleasant. Gordon did not know what it was; all he saw was that life was built of shams, that no one worshipped anything but the god of things that seem. He lay supine, cursing at the darkness." in the context of "Book IV: The Weaving. Chapter VI: The Tapestry Completed (Gordon Caruthers is the adolescent protagonist at the novel’s public school named Fernhurst.)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Alec Waugh" (The Loom of Youth (1917)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Alec Waugh

About Alec Waugh

Alexander Raban Waugh (July 8, 1898 – September 3, 1981) was an English novelist, brother of Evelyn Waugh.