the midday sun
He ate a little , and came out of Sandhurst not so high as he went in . Then there was an interval and a scene with his people , who expected much from him . Next a year of living `` unspotted from the world '' in a third-rate depot battalion where all the juniors were children , and all the seniors old women ; and lastly he came out to India , where he was cut off from the support of his parents , and had no one to fall back on in time of trouble except himself . Now India is a place beyond all others where one must not take things too seriously -- the midday sun always excepted . Too much work and too much energy kill a man just as effectively as too much assorted vice or too much drink . Flirtation does not matter because every one is being transferred and either you or she leave the Station , and never return . Good work does not matter , because a man is judged by his worst output and another man takes all the credit of his best as a rule .