In one case out of a hundred a point is excessively discussed because it is obscure; in the ninety-nine remaining it is obscure because it is excessively discussed.
Interpretation
The quote highlights how excessive discussion can obscure understanding rather than clarify it.
Edgar Allan Poe's quote reflects the paradox of discourse, where a single point may seem overly complicated and thus receives undue attention, while the vast majority of topics are misunderstood due to excessive debate. This suggests that sometimes the act of discussing something too much can cloud its clarity, illustrating the idea that less is often more when it comes to understanding complex ideas.
In practice
This quote can be used in a classroom setting to discuss the importance of concise communication.
But evil things, in robes of sorrow, Assailed the monarch's high estate; (Ah, let us mourn, for never morrow Shall dawn upon him desolate!) And round about his home the glory That blushed and bloomed, Is but a dim-remembered story Of the old time entombed.
Most writers - poets in especial - prefer having it understood that they compose by a species of fine frenzy - an ecstatic intuition - and would positively shudder at letting the public take a peep behind the scenes.
...the agony of my soul found vent in one loud, long and final scream of despair.
Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best have gone to their eternal rest.
I could have clasped the red walls to my bosom as a garment of eternal peace. "Death," I said, "any death but that of the pit!" Fool! might I have not known that into the pit it was the object of the burning iron to urge me?
In our endeavors to recall to memory something long forgotten, we often find ourselves upon the very verge of remembrance, without being able, in the end, to remember.
Why do babies starve /When there's enough food to feed the world /Why when there's so many of us /Are there people still alone
Gay hope is theirs by fancy fed,_x000D_ _x000D_ Less pleasing when possest;_x000D_ _x000D_ The tear forgot as soon as shed,_x000D_ _x000D_ The sunshine of the breast.
We fancy men are individuals; so are pumpkins; but every pumpkin in the field goes through every point of pumpkin history.
In his dream she was sick and he cared for her. The dream bore the look of sacrifice but he thought differently. He did not take care of her and she died alone somewhere in the dark and there is no other dream nor other waking world and there is no other tale to tell.
Our ancient forebears who learned to synchronize the movements of dance were those with the capacity to predict what others around them were going to do and signal to others what they wanted to do next. These forms of communication may well have helped lead to the formation of larger human communities.
Gods prefer simple, vicious games, where you Do Not Achieve Transcendence but Go Straight To Oblivion; a key to the understanding of all religion is that a god's idea of amusement is Snakes and Ladders with greased rungs.
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