The coming peril is the intellectual, educational, psychological and artistic overproduction, which, equally with economic overproduction, threatens the well-being of contemporary civilisation. People are inundated, blinded, deafened, and mentally paralysed by a flood of vulgar and tasteless externals, leaving them no time for leisure, thought, or creation from within themselves.
—G.K. Chesterton, 1874-1936
I wonder what he would say today? It’s not true of everyone, of course.
November 14, 2019
perhaps he was looking into the future and just didn’t say.
I don’t even think George Orwell could conceive of just how far reaching the bad aspects of it all are!
interesting Watson. very interesting. 🙂
I thought it was interesting that he wrote it so long ago. But I don’t feel overwhelmed by “tasteless externals” — I love the knowledge to be had and have no trouble ignoring the rest.
I read that and my mind goes blank. There are far too many big words in one statement for me to even want to comprehend what it’s saying…lol I guess that makes me a bit simple minded
😀 It makes you smart not to waste time trying to decipher it. He’s partially doing what he’s complaining about — inundating people with words. I’m with Rose. If people want to say something, don’t bury it in too many words.
I thought the quote was interesting because he wrote it so long ago. Now some people are complaining that most people no longer think — they just flit from one thing to another on the internet.
Laughing at Ann….I had that initial thought but would not have said it. I remember sitting with a group…I don’t want to say with who it was or what they were were applying for,, and everyone wanted wordier, bigger words…and I thought why not say it simply.
That being said, that last line sort of sums up what I say to friends…when I was younger, I could always decide what quilt I wanted to make and how I wanted to make it…which was always scrappy quilts, not matter what it was because that was all I had. Now, there is so much to see, it is overwhelming. So much I would like to make…and so many ideas/different approaches that I see, I spend more than half my time trying to make a decision. And it is not even tasteless/vulgar stuff that slows me down.
Yes! I read an article a while back saying that having many choices doesn’t contribute to our happiness. I think of it every time we buy toothpaste and try to figure out where ours is, and what the differences really are between the various options.
It kind of proves that I can’t think right now how to response to that quote, being overwhelmed with too much of everything right now.
Yes, you are up to your ears. Good luck!
I’m with less words, make the point with less, and then if you can’t…don’t make the words at all…but then again those type of intellectuals often thought they were better than others…I wonder did anyone truly listen to his ideals…
Actually, nerd that I am, I have been reading some of his quotes. Most of them aren’t that wordy. I didn’t even mind this one.
apologies CM
No problem. This business of feeling better than others never made much sense to me, and you’re right, some intellectuals do feel that way.
Thoughts that could still very well apply today, with the constant torrent of news and opinions coming at us from all directions, especially now social media is added to the mix. It’s hard to turn off the torrent for a while and clear one’s mind to have a few original insights.
The nice thing is no one is forcing us to pay attention to it all. I love the options open to me and just ignore the rest.
Ha!
🙂