Friday, August 12, 2022

Despising When Lacking

Charles Louis de Secondat, Montesquieu, Persian Letters, tr. John Davidson (London & New York, undated), Letter CXLV., p. 335:

When a man lacks a particular talent, he indemnifies himself by despising it: he removes the impediment between him and merit; and in that way finds himself on a level with those of whose works he formerly stood in awe.

Un homme à qui il manque un talent se dédommage en le méprisant: il ôte cet obstacle qu'il rencontroit entre le mérite et lui; et, par là, se trouve au niveau de celui dont il redoute les travaux.

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A Strange Harmonious World

Hugo Von Hofmannsthal, as quoted in: Egon Schwarz, “Hugo Von Hofmannsthal as a Critic,” Arthur R. Evans (ed.), On Four Modern Humanists  (Pr...