Quote by Anthony Trollope

It may almost be a question whether such wisdom as many of us have in our mature years has not come from the dying out of the power of temptation, rather than as the results of thought and resolution.


It may almost be a question whether such wisdom as many of u

Summary

This quote suggests that wisdom attained in maturity may not solely be a product of deep contemplation and deliberate decision-making, but rather the consequence of the diminishing allure of temptation. It raises the possibility that as one gets older, they may become more resistant to the temptations that led them astray in their youth, therefore gaining wisdom from avoiding those pitfalls rather than from deliberate efforts. Essentially, it questions the source of wisdom, proposing that it can arise from the erosion of the power of temptation rather than solely from conscious reflection and determination.

Topics

Wisdom
By Anthony Trollope
Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

As to the 'Left' I'll say briefly why this was the finish for me. Here is American society, attacked under open skies in broad daylight by the most reactionary and vicious force in the contemporary world, a force which treats Afghans and Algerians and Egyptians far worse than it has yet been able to treat us. The vaunted CIA and FBI are asleep, at best. The working-class heroes move, without orders and at risk to their lives, to fill the moral and political vacuum. The moral idiots, meanwhile, like Falwell and Robertson and Rabbi Lapin, announce that this clerical aggression is a punishment for our secularism. And the governments of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, hitherto considered allies on our 'national security' calculus, prove to be the most friendly to the Taliban and Al Qaeda.Here was a time for the Left to demand a top-to-bottom house-cleaning of the state and of our covert alliances, a full inquiry into the origins of the defeat, and a resolute declaration in favor of a fight to the end for secular and humanist values: a fight which would make friends of the democratic and secular forces in the Muslim world. And instead, the near-majority of 'Left' intellectuals started sounding like Falwell, and bleating that the main problem was Bush's legitimacy. So I don't even muster a hollow laugh when this pathetic faction says that I, and not they, are in bed with the forces of reaction.

Christopher Hitchens