Sweet is the voice of a sister in the season of sorrow.
Benjamin DisraeliRead
Nine-tenths of existing books are nonsense, and the clever books are the refutation of that nonsense.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Disraeli suggests that most literature is meaningless, while the valuable works effectively counter this nonsense.
In this quote, Benjamin Disraeli expresses his belief that a significant portion of literature lacks substance and meaning. He emphasizes that the truly insightful and clever books serve to challenge and dismantle the fallacies found in the majority of texts, thus highlighting the importance of critical thinking and discernment in reading.
Themes
BooksNonsenseLiteratureWisdomEducation
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on literature, one could use this quote to discuss the importance of understanding quality over quantity in reading.
More from Benjamin Disraeli
All quotes βBut what minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars, and each moment is a day.
Benjamin DisraeliRead
Grief is the agony of an instant. The indulgence of grief the blunder of a life.
Benjamin DisraeliRead
Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.
Benjamin DisraeliRead
Yes, I am a Jew and when the ancestors of the right honorable gentleman were brutal savages in an unknown island, mine were priests in the temple of Solomon.
Benjamin DisraeliRead
The practice of politics in the East may be defined by one word: dissimulation.
Benjamin DisraeliRead
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Young screenwriters are always very frustrated when they talk to me. They say, 'How do we get to be a screenwriter?' I say, 'You know what you do? I'll tell you the secret, it's easy: Read 'Hamlet.' You know? Then read it again, and read it again, and read it until you understand it. Read 'King Lear,' and then read 'Othello.'
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I suggest that the introductory courses in science, at all levels from grade school through college, be radically revised. Leave the fundamentals, the so-called basics, aside for a while, and concentrate the attention of all students on the things that are not known.
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