The net result of having Absorbed the disappointment of packing in the sports I loved and redirecting my energies was that about three years later, I was ready, willing and able, given the skills and knowledge I'd acquired after being crocked, to become the candidate in a by-election that played an important part in the long march towards self-government.
It was healthier and more honest that actors should express themselves, and the characters they portrayed, as humans whose traits, both admirable and unattractive, would be Absorbed by audiences.
