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08c0c2d
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Greatness is a transitory experience. It is never consistent. It depends in part upon the myth-making imagination of humankind. The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in. He must reflect what is projected upon him. And he must have a strong sense of the sardonic. This is what uncouples him from belief in his own pretensions. The sardonic is all that permits him to move within himself. Without this quality, even occasional greatness will destroy a man.
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myth
pretension
sardonic
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Frank Herbert |
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04d7b68
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"Roses," she thought sardonically, "All trash, m'dear."
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trash
roses
sardonic
flowers
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Virginia Woolf |
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0d5f83a
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Thus, you see, he arrived at the same end, via supposed duty, that he was previously pledged to via interest. I fancy a good number of us, when any line of action will promote our own interest, can make ourselves believe that reasons exist which compel us to it as a duty.
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ends
interest
sardonic
duty
reasoning
purpose
self-deception
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Elizabeth Gaskell |
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7e6dbc8
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Feeling unable to maintain this detachment of attitude towards human- and, in especial, matrimonial- affairs, I asked whether it was not true that she had married Bob Duport. She nodded; not exactly conveying, it seemed to me, that by some happy chance their union had introduced her to an unexpected terrestrial paradise.
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marriage
sardonic
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Anthony Powell |