All charming people have something to conceal, usually their total dependence on the appreciation of others.
Cyril ConnollyRead
When we have ceased to love the stench of the human animal, either in others or in ourselves, then are we condemned to misery, and clear thinking can begin.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Acceptance of our flaws is essential for clarity and happiness.
Cyril Connolly's quote suggests that when we turn away from the darker aspects of human nature—both in ourselves and in others—we risk falling into despair and confusion. The quote emphasizes the importance of recognizing and confronting these uncomfortable truths to attain a clearer perspective on life and ultimately achieve happiness.
Themes
Human NatureLoveMiseryClear ThinkingAcceptance
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about embracing our flaws.
More from Cyril Connolly
All quotes →When I contemplate the accumulation of guilt and remorse which, like a garbage-can, I carry through life, and which is fed not only by the lightest action but by the most harmless pleasure, I feel Man to be of all living things the most biologically incompetent and ill-organized. Why has he acquired a seventy years life-span only to poison it incurably by the mere being of himself? Why has he thrown Conscience, like a dead rat, to putrefy in the well?
Cyril ConnollyRead
A lazy person, whatever the talents with which he set out, will have condemned himself to second-hand thoughts and to second-rate friends.
Cyril ConnollyRead
The artist is a member of the leisured classes who cannot pay for his leisure.
Cyril ConnollyRead
We are all serving a life sentence in the dungeon of the self.
Cyril ConnollyRead
Imprisoned in every fat man a thin man is wildly signaling to be let out.
Cyril ConnollyRead
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