“What do people like to call stupid the most? Something sensible that they can’t understand.”
Was nennen die Menschen am liebsten dumm? Das Gescheite, das sie nicht verstehen.
Source: Aphorisms (1880/1893), p. 37.
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Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach81
Austrian writer 1830–1916Related quotes
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Detail
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912), Part IX - A Painter's Views on Painting
Context: One reason why it is as well not to give very much detail is that, no matter how much is given, the eye will always want more; it will know very well that it is not being paid in full. On the other hand, no matter how little one gives, the eye will generally compromise by wanting only a little more. In either case the eye will want more, so one may as well stop sooner or later. Sensible painting, like sensible law, sensible writing, or sensible anything else, consists as much in knowing what to omit as what to insist upon.
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Source: The Tales of Alvin Maker, The Crystal City (2003), Chapter 4 “La Tia” (p. 74).