Sweet is the voice of a sister in the season of sorrow.
It is remarkable that when great discoveries are effected, their simplicity always seems to detract from their originality: on these occasions we are reminded of the egg of Columbus!
Interpretation
What this quote means
Great discoveries often appear simple in retrospect, which can make their originality seem less significant.
The quote reflects on the nature of great discoveries and insights, suggesting that once a breakthrough is achieved, it may seem straightforward and uncomplicated. This apparent simplicity can lead people to underestimate the creativity and innovation that led to such advancements, drawing a parallel to the story of Christopher Columbus, who famously made the egg stand upright, highlighting how simple solutions can often disguise their ingenious origins.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about groundbreaking inventions, one might use this quote to emphasize how innovation can often appear simple in hindsight.
More from Benjamin Disraeli
All quotes βBut what minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars, and each moment is a day.
Grief is the agony of an instant. The indulgence of grief the blunder of a life.
Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.
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.
The practice of politics in the East may be defined by one word: dissimulation.
Similar quotes
The scar will remain, but it is better for a man to lose both arms than his soul; and these hard years, instead of being lost, may be made the most precious of your lives, if they teach you to rule yourselves.
Turn off your radio. Put away your daily paper. Read one review of events a week and spend some time reading good books. They tell too of days of striving and of strife. They are of other centuries and also of our own. They make us realize that all times are perilous, that men live in a dangerous world, in peril constantly of losing or maiming soul and body. We get some sense of perspective reading such books. Renewed courage and faith and even joy to live.
I must learn to love the fool in me the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt, promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries.
When fortune surprises us by giving us some great office without having gradually led us to expect it, or without having raised our hopes, it is well nigh impossible to occupy it well, and to appear worthy to fill it.
A lack of seriousness has led to all sorts of wonderful insights.
Knowledge may give weight, but accomplishments give luster, and many more people see than weigh.