Saturday, June 25, 2022

The mark of all charlatans

At Anecdotal Evidence Patrick Kurp quotes an author I don't know, Hugh Kingsmill:
Most of the avoidable suffering in life springs from our attempts to escape the unavoidable suffering inherent in the fragmentary nature of our present existence. We expect immortal satisfactions from mortal conditions, and lasting and perfect happiness in the midst of universal change. To encourage this expectation, to persuade mankind that the ideal is realizable in this world, after a few preliminary changes in external conditions, is the distinguishing mark of all charlatans, whether in thought or action.
Patrick Kurp, "He Judged Literature by Its Truthfulness," Anecdotal Evidence, June 25, 2022.

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