Whatever the misery, he could not regain contentment with a world which, once doubted, became absurd.
Interpretation
The quote reflects a sense of despair and absurdity in perceiving the world after losing faith in it.
Sinclair Lewis expresses that once a person has questioned the reality and morality of the world around them, it becomes impossible to find peace or happiness within it. The sense of absurdity arises from the contradiction between the pursuit of contentment and the disillusionment that comes from recognizing the world's flaws.
In practice
During a philosophy class discussion on existentialism.
Upon this theology he rarely pondered. The kernel of his practical religion was that it was respectable, and beneficial to one's business, to be seen going to services; that the church kept the Worst Elements from being still worse; and that the pastor's sermons, however dull they might seem at the time of taking, yet had a voodooistic power which 'did a fellow good-- kept him in touch with Higher Things.
Intellectually I know that America is no better than any other country; emotionally I know she is better than every other country.
Writers kid themselves-about themselves and other people. Take the talk about writing methods. Writing is just work-there's no secret. If you dictate or use a pen or type with your toes-it is just work.
She did her work with the thoroughness of a mind which reveres details and never quite understands them.
Writing is just work-there's no secret. If you dictate or use a pen or type or write with your toes-it's still just work.
It is, I think, an error to believe that there is any need of religion to make life seem worth living.
What was once justified as sanctioned by God is now properly reviled as an unconscionable violation of human rights.
In the total expanse of human life there is not a single square inch of which the Christ, who alone is sovereign, does not declare, 'That is mine!'.
I could not understand why men who knew all about good and evil could hate and kill each other.
It's a curse - this not wanting to look on naked realities. Until the war, life was never more real to me than a shadow show on a curtain. And I preferred it so. I do not like the outlines of things to be too sharp. I like them gently blurred, a little hazy.
The Truth is inseparable from who you are. Yes, you are the Truth. If you look for it elsewhere, you will be deceived every time.
The Gospel lives in conversation with culture, and if the Church holds back from the culture, the Gospel itself falls silent. Therefore, we must be fearless in crossing the threshold of the communication and information revolution now taking place.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.