Tears throw a veil over our faults and allow us to accuse fate without fear or contradiction.
Italo SvevoRead
Who knows whether, if I had given up smoking, I should really have become the strong perfect man I imagined? Perhaps it was this very doubt that bound me to my vice, because life is so much pleasanter if one is able to believe in one's own latent greatness
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the relationship between personal vices and self-perception of greatness.
Italo Svevo explores the idea that one’s doubts and flaws might be essential to their identity and strength. The speaker ponders whether giving up smoking would have prevented the development of their character, suggesting that sometimes our struggles and vices contribute to our sense of who we are and how we perceive our potential for greatness.
Themes
StrengthVicesSelf-PerceptionGreatnessDoubt
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about overcoming challenges and self-doubt.
More from Italo Svevo
All quotes →You see things less clearly when you open your eyes too wide.
Italo SvevoRead
The fancies of wine are authentic events.
Italo SvevoRead
Everyone remembers his past with greater vividness as the present becomes more important. Dying men in their last delirium are supposed to see their whole life spread out before them.
Italo SvevoRead
Similar quotes
I looked up at the mass of signs and stars in the night sky and laid myself open for the first time to the benign indifference of the world.
Albert CamusRead
Yes, I will put it out there - I will work for anyone for free if they're prepared to make their clothing Fair Trade and organic. It's really hard to get people interested in it.
Emma WatsonRead
Spiritual formation for the Christian basically refers to the Spirit-driven process of forming the inner world of the human self in such a way that it becomes like the inner being of Christ himself.
Dallas WillardRead
Unity in variety is the plan of the universe.
Swami VivekanandaRead
We save the world by being alive ourselves.
Joseph CampbellRead
We can bring our spiritual practice into the streets, into our communities, when we see each realm as a temple, as a place to discover that which is sacred.
Jack KornfieldRead