All living souls welcome whatever they are ready to cope with; all else they ignore, or pronounce to be monstrous and wrong, or deny to be possible.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- People tend to accept only ideas or challenges they are psychologically prepared for, rejecting anything beyond their current readiness.
- In plain terms
- We only accept what we are ready for and ignore or reject the rest.
- What can you take from it?
- Recognize your readiness limits when facing new ideas.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What truths have you rejected because they felt too difficult?
- How can you increase your readiness for challenging concepts?
Another view
Sometimes people reject valid truths simply because they are uncomfortable, not because they are unready.
More from George Santayana
Profound skepticism is favorable to conventions, because it doubts that the criticism of conventions is any truer than they are.
Permalink to quote #38 The young man who has not wept is a savage, and the older man who will not laugh is a fool.
Permalink to quote #40 The living have never shown me how to live.
Permalink to quote #37
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