American politics is a struggle, not of men but of forces. The men become every year more and more creatures of force, massed about central power houses.
Henry AdamsRead
Simplicity is the most deceitful mistress that ever betrayed man.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Simplicity can often appear alluring, yet it can also lead to misunderstandings and complexities beneath the surface.
Henry Adams warns that simplicity may seem appealing and straightforward, but it can be misleading and deceptive. People often fall into the trap of underestimating the complexities that lie beneath seemingly simple things, leading to unforeseen consequences and betrayals.
Themes
SimplicityDeceptionComplexityPhilosophyBetrayal
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about design, one might reference this quote to highlight the pitfalls of oversimplifying a concept.
More from Henry Adams
All quotes βOf all studies, the one he would rather have avoided was that of his own mind. He knew no tragedy so heartrending as introspection.
Henry AdamsRead
Church and State, Soul and Body, God and Man, are all one at Mont Saint Michel, and the business of all is to fight, each in his own way, or to stand guard for each other.
Henry AdamsRead
The American President resembles the commander of a ship at sea. He must have a helm to grasp, a course to steer, a port to seek.
Henry AdamsRead
The effect of power and publicity on all men is the aggravation of self, a sort of tumor that ends by killing the victim's sympathies.
Henry AdamsRead
Man is an imperceptible atom always trying to become one with God.
Henry AdamsRead
Similar quotes
If you can let go of (the Tao) with your mind and surround it with your heart, it will live inside you forever.
LaoziRead
Godliness is more easily feigned in words than in actions
Jonathan EdwardsRead
What a big book, captain, might be made with all that is known!" "And what a much bigger book still with all that is not known!
Jules VerneRead
And the seasons they go 'round and 'round And the painted ponies go up and down We're captive on the carousel of time We can't return we can only look behind From where we came And go round and round and round In the circle game.
Joni MitchellRead
The most difficult We do not deal in facts when we are contemplating ourselves.
Mark TwainRead
If we wish to know about a man, we ask 'what is his story--his real, inmost story?'--for each of us is a biography, a story. Each of us is a singular narrative, which is constructed, continually, unconsciously, by, through, and in us--through our perceptions, our feelings, our thoughts, our actions; and, not least, our discourse, our spoken narrations. Biologically, physiologically, we are not so different from each other; historically, as narratives--we are each of us unique.
Oliver SacksRead