It is as absurd to argue men, as to torture them, into believing.
John Henry NewmanRead
How many writers are there... who, breaking up their subject into details, destroy its life, and defraud us of the whole by their anxiety about the parts.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote warns against overanalyzing details at the expense of the overall message or life of a work.
John Henry Newman emphasizes the importance of viewing a subject in its entirety rather than getting lost in the minutiae. When writers focus too much on individual details, they risk losing the essence and vibrancy of their work, ultimately depriving readers of the full experience that the piece could offer. This calls for a balance between detail and the overall narrative or theme.
Themes
WritingDetailsWholeArtAnalysis
In practice
Example use cases
A writer at a workshop could use this quote to discuss the importance of maintaining the bigger picture in storytelling.
More from John Henry Newman
All quotes βA cloud of incense was rising on high; the people suddenly all bowed low; what could it mean? The truth flashed on him, fearfully yet sweetly; it was the Blessed Sacrament - it was the Lord Incarnate who was on the altar, who had come to visit and bless his people. It was the Great Presence, which makes a Catholic Church different from every other place in the world; which makes it, as no other place can be - holy.
John Henry NewmanRead
It is seldom we have the heart to throw ourselves, if I may so speak, on the Divine Arm; we dare not trust ourselves on the waters, though Christ bids us. We have not St. Peter's love to ask leave to come to him upon the sea. When we once are filled with that heavenly charity, we can do all things, because we attempt all things - for to attempt is to do.
John Henry NewmanRead
Now what is it moves our very hearts, and sickens us so much at cruelty shown to poor brutes? I suppose this first, that they have done no harm; next, that they have no power whatever of resistance; it is the cowardice and tyranny of which they are the victims which makes their sufferings so especially touching.
John Henry NewmanRead
A science is not mere knowledge, it is knowledge which has undergone a process of intellectual digestion. It is the grasp of many things brought together in one, and hence is its power; for, properly speaking, it is Science that is power, not Knowledge.
John Henry NewmanRead
Evil has no substance of its own, but is only the defect, excess, perversion, or corruption of that which has substance.
John Henry NewmanRead
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