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I am sure that if an elder boy said that 'the pretty fish was lucky--of course it was,' all the lesser boys would believe it, and in a week it would be an accepted idol.
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Walter Bagehot
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gutenberg.orgWalter Bagehot: “I am sure that if an elder boy said that 'the pretty fish was lucky--of course it was,' all the lesser boys would…”
Editor's note · Context
Bagehot illustrates how beliefs in luck can quickly spread among children, forming new superstitions.
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More from Walter Bagehot
That a House of Commons may work well it must perform, as we saw, five functions well: it must elect a Ministry well, legislate well, teach the nation well, express the nation's will well, bring matters to the nation's attention well.
All savage religions are full of superstitions founded on luck.
They say, We reject your Bill for this once or these twice, or even these thrice: but if you keep on sending it up, at last we won't reject it.
Thirdly, we see why so few nations have made rapid advance, and how many have become stationary.
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