What would be the advantage of being thin if you were not alive ?" "When you come to that, what would be the advantage of being alive if you weren't thin ?" retorted Elisabeth.
"The two cases are not parallel, my dear; you see you couldn't be thin without being alive, but you could be alive without being thin." "It is possible; I have come across such cases myself, but I devoutly trust mine may never be one of them.

As the hymn says, I shall always be 'content to fill a little space.'" "Ah! but I think the hymn doesn't mean it quite in that sense.

I believe the hymn refers rather to the greatness of one's attainments and possessions than to one's personal bulk." Elisabeth opened her eyes wide with an expression of childlike simplicity.

"Do you really think so ?" "I do, my dear.

You know one must not take poetry too literally; verse writers are allowed what is termed 'poetic license,' and are rarely, if ever, quite accurate in their statements.