All charming people have something to conceal, usually their total dependence on the appreciation of others.
Cyril ConnollyRead
Those of us who were brought up as Christians and have lost our faith have retained the sense of sin without the saving belief in redemption. This poisons our thought and so paralyses us in action.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Losing faith can leave a void that leads to guilt and inaction.
Cyril Connolly's quote reflects on the struggle of individuals who were raised in the Christian faith but have since lost their belief. Despite this loss, they still carry the burden of guilt and the concept of sin, which can hinder their ability to act freely and positively in life. This creates a paradox where the absence of belief in redemption leads to a paralysis caused by an overwhelming sense of moral failure.
Themes
FaithGuiltActionSinRedemption
In practice
Example use cases
Sharing this quote during a discussion on faith and personal growth.
More from Cyril Connolly
All quotes →When I contemplate the accumulation of guilt and remorse which, like a garbage-can, I carry through life, and which is fed not only by the lightest action but by the most harmless pleasure, I feel Man to be of all living things the most biologically incompetent and ill-organized. Why has he acquired a seventy years life-span only to poison it incurably by the mere being of himself? Why has he thrown Conscience, like a dead rat, to putrefy in the well?
Cyril ConnollyRead
A lazy person, whatever the talents with which he set out, will have condemned himself to second-hand thoughts and to second-rate friends.
Cyril ConnollyRead
The artist is a member of the leisured classes who cannot pay for his leisure.
Cyril ConnollyRead
We are all serving a life sentence in the dungeon of the self.
Cyril ConnollyRead
Imprisoned in every fat man a thin man is wildly signaling to be let out.
Cyril ConnollyRead
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