Time and trouble will tame an advanced young woman, but an advanced old woman is uncontrollable by any earthly force.
Dorothy L. SayersRead
. . . the fellow's got a bee in his bonnet. Thinks God's a secretion of the liver--all right once in a way, but there's no need to keep on about it. There's nothing you can't prove if your outlook is only sufficiently limited.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that narrow-mindedness can lead to unfounded beliefs and that persistent fixation on such beliefs is unnecessary.
Dorothy L. Sayers uses the metaphor of a 'bee in one's bonnet' to illustrate how some individuals can be overly preoccupied with specific, often irrational ideas or beliefs. The quote highlights the limitations of a narrow perspective and warns against the futility of trying to validate unfounded conceptions with a restricted outlook. It emphasizes the importance of open-mindedness and the potential for expansive thinking in understanding the complexities of life and existence.
Themes
BeliefsNarrow-MindednessPerspectiveOpen-MindednessPhilosophyUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the nature of faith, this quote can be used to illustrate the dangers of dogmatism.
More from Dorothy L. Sayers
All quotes →But suppose one doesn't quite know which one wants to put first. Suppose," said Harriet, falling back on words which were not her own, "suppose one is cursed with both a heart and a brain?" "You can usually tell," said Miss de Vine, "by seeing what kind of mistakes you make. I'm quite sure that one never makes fundamental mistakes about the thing one really wants to do. Fundamental mistakes arise out of lack of genuine interest. In my opinion, that is.
Dorothy L. SayersRead
You're thinking that people don't keep up old jealousies for twenty years or so. Perhaps not. Not just primitive, brute jealousy. That means a word and a blow. But the thing that rankles is hurt vanity. That sticks. Humiliation. And we've all got a sore spot we don't like to have touched.
Dorothy L. SayersRead
None of us feels the true love of God till we realize how wicked we are. But you can't teach people that - they have to learn by experience.
Dorothy L. SayersRead
What is repugnant to every human being is to be reckoned always as a member of a class and not as an individual person.
Dorothy L. SayersRead
[O]ne can scarcely be frightened off writing what one wants to write for fear an obscure reviewer should patronise one on that account.
Dorothy L. SayersRead
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But there is in everything a reasonable division of labour. I have written the book, and nothing on earth would induce me to read it.
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