O'Casey, quoting Shaw and Goethe, laments the little time there is in life: 'God deals out time with a sparing hand'. He mentions a 'Convocation of Honors' which McCarthy attended and he says that, although he is no scholar, he has always been a 'student in the university of life'. He discusses the wonder of the human body, the mystery that is the body's relation to the soul and the questions of what are Truth and Beauty. He again advises Mai not to overdo it, and suggests she 'go aside into the desert and rest awhile'. He thanks her for praying for him, recollects Thomas Ashe with kind words and tells McCarthy that he gets tired quickly and has to rest.