It could be said that...

It could be said that in our times, when so many idols have been dethroned and so many illusions destroyed or forgotten, there is little need for resorting to a critical sense and spirit of doubt. Certainly they are not as necessary today as in times past. However, old habits die hard—too often one still encounters the pupils of illustrious men wasting their talents on defending the errors of their teachers, rather than using them to solve new problems. It is also important to note that in our era of disrespectful criticism and changing values, school discipline reigns with such tyranny in the universities of France, Germany, and Italy that at times even the greatest initiative is suffocated, along with the ºowering of original thought.