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.
I quote others only in order the better to express myself.
We are buried beneath the weight of information, which is being confused with knowledge; quantity is being confused with abundance and wealth with happiness. We are monkeys with money and guns.
When we enlarge our view of the world, we deepen our understanding of our own lives.
Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity.
I've noticed that even people who believe in fate look both ways before crossing the street.
If the propositions of this Discourse are tenable, the "state of progressive collapse" is precisely that state in which alone we are warranted in considering All Things.
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