All charming people have something to conceal, usually their total dependence on the appreciation of others.
Cyril ConnollyRead
When I contemplate the accumulation of guilt and remorse which, like a garbage-can, I carry through life, and which is fed not only by the lightest action but by the most harmless pleasure, I feel Man to be of all living things the most biologically incompetent and ill-organized. Why has he acquired a seventy years life-span only to poison it incurably by the mere being of himself? Why has he thrown Conscience, like a dead rat, to putrefy in the well?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on human guilt and the burden of conscience, suggesting a deep critique of human existence.
Cyril Connolly's quote expresses a profound disillusionment with the nature of humanity, highlighting how individuals are plagued by guilt and remorse throughout their lives. He compares these feelings to a garbage can, indicating that they accumulate over time, often arising from even the simplest actions and pleasures. Connolly questions the purpose of a lengthy life when it seems to be tainted by an inherent inability to manage one's conscience and the weight of existence, suggesting a tragic view of human life.
Themes
GuiltRemorseHuman NatureConsciousnessExistence
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophical discussion about the nature of guilt, this quote serves to illustrate the psychological burden of human existence.
More from Cyril Connolly
All quotes →A lazy person, whatever the talents with which he set out, will have condemned himself to second-hand thoughts and to second-rate friends.
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The artist is a member of the leisured classes who cannot pay for his leisure.
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We are all serving a life sentence in the dungeon of the self.
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Imprisoned in every fat man a thin man is wildly signaling to be let out.
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When we have ceased to love the stench of the human animal, either in others or in ourselves, then are we condemned to misery, and clear thinking can begin.
Cyril ConnollyRead
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