The majority of people perform well in a crisis and when the spotlight is on them; it's on the Sunday afternoons of this life, when nobody is looking, that the spirit falters.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- People often succeed under pressure but struggle to maintain integrity when no one is watching.
- In plain terms
- We are brave in a crisis but fail when alone.
- What can you take from it?
- Character is tested when unseen.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can you be ethical in private?
- What drives your behavior?
Another view
Sometimes public pressure creates anxiety that actually causes failure.
More from Alan Bennett
An article on playwrights in the Daily Mail, listed according to Hard Left, Soft Left, Hard Right, Soft Right and Centre. I am not listed. I should probably co…
Permalink to quote #14 To play Trivial Pursuit with a life like mine could be said to be a form of homeopathy.
Permalink to quote #16 He had never read Proust, but he had somehow taken a short cut across the allotments and arrived at the same conclusions.
Permalink to quote #13
Related quotes
La vertu s'avilit a se justifier.
VoltaireVoltaire quote #1 I'd like to be remembered as a guy who tried - tried to be part of his times, tried to help people communicate with one another, tried to find some decency in …
Paul NewmanPaul Newman quote #1 In sober state, Through the sequestered vale of rural life, The venerable patriarch guileless held The tenor of his way.
Beilby PorteusBeilby Porteus quote #1