He was fifty-six, in the prime of life, never in better health, with "success lying easily upon him"-- said one; "at the very summit of his career," said another--and all agreed it was "queer," "strange,"-- unless, they argued, he was really ill.

Even the most acute students of human affairs among his friends wondered.

It seemed incomprehensible that any man should want to give up before he was, for some reason, compelled to do so.

A man should go on until he "dropped in the harness," they argued.
Bok agreed that any man had a perfect right to work until he _did_ "drop in the harness." But, he argued, if he conceded this right to others, why should they not concede to him the privilege of dropping with the blinders off?
"But," continued the argument, "a man degenerates when he retires from active affairs." And then, instances were pointed out as notable examples.

"A year of retirement and he was through," was the picture given of one retired man.