In paragraph 2 the idea of idealism is naïvebut still it makes sense to his credo which down the years grew to have some cynicism.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Credo has grown shorter in recent years—sometimes cynical, sometimes comical, and sometimes bland—but I keep working at it. Recently I set out to get the statement of personal belief down to one page in simple terms, fully understanding the naïve idealism that implied.
The whole credo of idealism has sense and over the years has grown into cynicism.
At the beginning of the paragraph he uses uppercase letters to put an extra emphasis to his point from the start. He does this by exaggerating that all that is needed to know is little things. He uses the phrase “graduate-school mountain” by trying to get the reader to understand that the highest level of learning is not needed to know about life and how to handle it, or what to do in it. As he wrote the list he wrote it as a child from kindergarten whose mind is still innocent but all those steps of life are well needed and enough to be happy.