Pride is founded not on the sense of happiness, but on the sense of power.
William HazlittRead
Or have I passed my time in pouring words like water into empty sieves, rolling a stone up a hill and then down again, trying to prove an argument in the teeth of facts, and looking for causes in the dark, and not finding them?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the futility of efforts that yield no tangible results and the frustration of seeking understanding in the face of overwhelming uncertainty.
In this introspective quote, Hazlitt contemplates the seemingly pointless endeavours of arguing without evidence and seeking answers where none seem to exist. He uses vivid imagery to describe his frustrations, likening his efforts to pouring water into sieves or rolling a stone uphill, emphasizing the cyclical nature of such struggles and the difficulty of extracting meaningful insights from an ambiguous reality.
Themes
FutilityEffortUnderstandingFrustrationPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the nature of intellectual pursuits and their outcomes.
More from William Hazlitt
All quotes →The world loves to be amused by hollow professions, to be deceived by flattering appearances, to live in a state of hallucination; and can forgive everything but the plain, downright, simple, honest truth.
William HazlittRead
Our repugnance to death increases in proportion to our consciousness of having lived in vain.
William HazlittRead
We can bear to be deprived of everything but our self-conceit.
William HazlittRead
There are few things in which we deceive ourselves more than in the esteem we profess to entertain for our firends. It is little better than a piece of quackery. The truth is, we think of them as we please, that is, as they please or displease us.
William HazlittRead
Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is a greater. Possession pampers the mind; privation trains and strengthens it.
William HazlittRead
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