If I did not know that I am a genuine Dane, I could almost be tempted to explain my self-contradictions by supposing that I am an Irishman. For the Irish do not have the heart to immerse their children totally when they have them baptized; they want to keep a little paganism in reserve; generally the child is totally immersed under water but with the right arm free, so that he will be able to wield a sword with it, embrace the girls.
(Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), Danish philosopher. Journals and Papers, vol. 5, entry no. 5556, 1840-1842, eds. Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong (1978).)
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