An extravagance is something that your spirit thinks is a necessity.
Bernard WilliamsRead
If we try and fail, we have temporary disappointments. But if we do not try at all, we have permanent regrets.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Trying encourages growth, while inaction leads to lasting regrets.
This quote emphasizes the importance of taking action and trying, even if there is a chance of failure. It suggests that the temporary setbacks we may face when attempting something new are far less severe than the lifelong regrets that come from not trying at all, encouraging a proactive approach to life's challenges.
Themes
RegretActionFailureMotivationGrowth
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech to encourage students to pursue their dreams.
More from Bernard Williams
All quotes →There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope.
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Contemporary moral philosophy has found an original way of being boring, which is by not discussing moral issues at all.
Bernard WilliamsRead
The majority of philosophers are totally humorless. That's part of their trouble.
Bernard WilliamsRead
People have been predicting the death of philosophy since the 17th century. When I was a student, people were saying, 'We're in the last days of philosophy.' Then we were told in the '60s it would be replaced by sociology, then by literary criticism.
Bernard WilliamsRead
Virtually the only subject in which one could ever get a scholarship to Oxford or Cambridge was classics. So I went to Oxford to study classics and, unlike Cambridge, it had a philosophy component, and I became completely transported by it.
Bernard WilliamsRead
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I am unwilling to accord to some small−minded and jealous individuals the satisfaction of having thwarted my efforts. These men are to me nothing more than microbes of a nasty disease. My project was retarded by laws of nature. The world was not prepared for it. It was too far ahead of time, but the same laws will prevail in the end and make it a triumphal success.
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