Sometimes it seems the only accomplishment my education ever bestowed on me was the ability to think in quotations.
Margaret DrabbleRead
I'd rather be at the end of a dying tradition, which I admire, than at the beginning of a tradition which I deplore.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the idea of valuing enduring traditions over starting new ones that are unappealing.
Margaret Drabble's quote emphasizes the importance of appreciating established traditions, even if they are in decline, rather than embracing new traditions that do not resonate positively. It implies that there is beauty and worth in honoring what has come before, particularly when juxtaposed with the discomfort of new ideals that do not align with one's values or beliefs.
In practice
A speech at a cultural festival honoring historical practices in a modern context.
Sometimes it seems the only accomplishment my education ever bestowed on me was the ability to think in quotations.
Our desire to conform is greater than our respect for objective facts.
Family life itself, that safest, most traditional, most approved of female choices, is not a sanctuary: It is, perpetually, a dangerous place.
Esteem must be founded on some sort of preference. Bestow it on everybody and it ceases to have any meaning at all.
This planet has β or rather had β a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much all of the time.
Discipleship is not an offer that man makes to Christ.
The sign of the people of bidβah is that they do not follow the salaf.
Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!
Josh: So, Toby, itβs election night. What do you say about a country that goes out of its way to protect even those citizens that try to destroy it? Toby: God bless America.
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