He turned and left the room; none of the girls noticed, which was just as 
well, as they might have seen a quiver in his lip and a tear in his eye. As he 
made his way through the corridors toward the upper deck where his airship 
awaited him, he reviewed for the thousandth time the Great Learning, the kernel 
of the Master's thought: The ancients who wished to demonstrate 
illustrious virtue throughout the kingdom, first ordered well their own states. 
Wishing to order well their states, they first regulated their families. 
Wishing to regulate their families, they first cultivated their persons. 
Wishing to cultivate their persons, they first rectified their hearts. Wishing 
to rectify their hearts, they first sought to be sincere in their thoughts. 
Wishing to be sincere in their thoughts, they first extended to the utmost 
their knowledge. Such extention of knowledge lay in the investigation of 
things. .         .         . From the Son of Heaven down to the mass of the 
people, all must consider the cultivation of the person the root of everything 
besides.