Die Verwirklichung der Nutzlosigkeit

That cruel mirror, verity, eventually compels every man to confront and grill the everyday façade with which he wears with contrived nonchalance.

The forced self-questioning may not dawn until years later — perhaps in the throes of a mid-life existential exigency, perhaps not — but just the same, the inevitable query to account for one’s conscious pretenses awaits.