“Whatever the misery, he could not regain contentment with a world which, once doubted, became absurd.”

—  Sinclair Lewis , book Babbitt

Source: Babbitt

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Whatever the misery, he could not regain contentment with a world which, once doubted, became absurd." by Sinclair Lewis?
Sinclair Lewis photo
Sinclair Lewis 136
American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright 1885–1951

Related quotes

Francis Bacon photo

“If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties.”

Francis Bacon book The Advancement of Learning

Book I, v, 8
The Advancement of Learning (1605)
Source: The Advancement Of Learning
Context: The two ways of contemplation are not unlike the two ways of action commonly spoken of by the ancients: the one plain and smooth in the beginning, and in the end impassable; the other rough and troublesome in the entrance, but after a while fair and even. So it is in contemplation: If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties.

Ludwig Van Beethoven photo

“There ought to be but one large art warehouse in the world, to which the artist could carry his art-works, and from which he could carry away whatever he needed. As it is, one must be half a tradesman.”

Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770–1827) German Romantic composer

Conversations (January 1801)

Alexander Graham Bell photo

“The inventor…looks upon the world and is not contented with things as they are. He wants to improve whatever he sees, he wants to benefit the world; he is haunted by an idea. The spirit of invention possesses him, seeking materialization.”

Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922) scientist and inventor known for his work on the telephone

As appears on plaque in the entrance to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/ns/grahambell/index_e.asp in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Bertrand Russell photo

“Is there any knowledge in the world which is so certain that no reasonable man could doubt it?”

Bertrand Russell The Problems of Philosophy

Source: 1910s, The Problems of Philosophy (1912)

George D. Herron photo

“No longer is it possible for men to be content to have, while their brothers have not. The physical misery of the world's disinherited is becoming the spiritual misery of the world's elect. Superior privileges of any sort now carry with them the sense of shame.”

George D. Herron (1862–1925) American clergyman, writer and activist

Source: Between Caesar and Jesus (1899), p. 16

Clifford D. Simak photo

“Whatever doubt might rise, he knew that he was right. But the rightness was an intellectual rightness and the doubt emotional.”

Clifford D. Simak book Time is the Simplest Thing

Source: Time is the Simplest Thing (1961), Chapter 3 (p. 14)

Gaston Leroux photo

“He had a heart that could have held the entire empire of the world; and, in the end, he had to content himself with a cellar.”

Gaston Leroux book The Phantom of the Opera

Source: The Phantom of the Opera

Abraham Joshua Heschel photo

“The world ceases to be that which is and becomes that which is available.
It is a submissive world that modern man is in the habit of sensing, and he seems content with the riches of thinghood.”

Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–1972) Polish-American Conservative Judaism Rabbi

Source: Who Is Man? (1965), Ch. 5<!-- Disavowal of transcendence, p. 83 -->
Context: As a result of letting the drive for power dominate existence, man is bound to lose his sense for nature's otherness. Nature becomes a utensil, an object to be used. The world ceases to be that which is and becomes that which is available.
It is a submissive world that modern man is in the habit of sensing, and he seems content with the riches of thinghood. Space is the limit of his ambitions, and there is little he desires besides it. Correspondingly, man’s consciousness recedes more and more in the process of reducing his status to that of a consumer and manipulator. He has enclosed himself in the availability of things, with the shutters down and no sight of what is beyond availability.

Natalie Merchant photo

“once I was open, could hope, I had no doubt
but that was the worst thing that I could do”

Natalie Merchant (1963) American singer-songwriter

Song lyrics, Motherland (2001), The Worst Thing

E.E. Cummings photo

“without any doubt he was
whatever(first and last) most people fear most:
a mystery for which iv'e
no word except alive”

E.E. Cummings (1894–1962) American poet

30
73 poems (1963)

Related topics