whether to follow uncritically the track he finds himself in, without considering his aptness for it, or to consider what his aptness or bent may be,… - Thomas Hardy

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whether to follow uncritically the track he finds himself in, without considering his aptness for it, or to consider what his aptness or bent may be, and reshape his course accordingly. I tried to do the latter, and I failed. But I don't admit that my failure proved my view to be a wrong one, or that my success would have made it a right one; though that's how we appraise such attempts nowadays.