if he might ever have been tempted to do so himself , art knew that he could not yield himself or his beliefs so meekly for the sake of his son : even if the object of his searching might prove to be a false idol , it was the passion and dedication that he brought to the task that was all-important now : it was no longer a question of whether you arrived , it was the manner of how you got there that was the key to his saving face , and at the moment , salvaging respect was uppermost in arts mind .