I always do the first line well, but I have trouble doing the others.
Don't appear so scholarly, pray. Humanize your talk, and speak to be understood.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of clear communication and making complex ideas accessible to everyone.
Moliere's quote encourages individuals, especially those in positions of knowledge or authority, to avoid using overly complex or scholarly language when communicating. The essence is to humanize dialogue in a way that fosters understanding and connection, rather than creating distance through pretentiousness. It serves as a reminder that effective communication involves simplifying complex ideas to ensure that one's audience can grasp and relate to the message being conveyed.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture, a professor could use this quote to remind students of the importance of approachable language.
More from Moliere
All quotes →Beauty without intelligence is like a hook without bait.
Betrayed and wronged in everything, I’ll flee this bitter world where vice is king, And seek some spot unpeopled and apart Where I’ll be free to have an honest heart. - Molière, The Misanthrope
Long is the road from conception to completion.
Oh, I may be devout, but I am human all the same.
Hypocrisy is a fashionable vice, and all fashionable vices pass for virtue.
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A million people can call the mountains a fiction, yet it need not trouble you as you stand atop them.
I prayed like a man walking in a forest at night, feeling his way with his hands, at each step fearing to fall into pure bottomlessness forever. Prayer is like lying awake at night, afraid, with your head under the cover, hearing only the beating of your own heart.
The beauty and mystery of this world only emerges through affection, attention, interest and compassion . . . open your eyes wide and actually see this world by attending to its colors, details and irony.