"Human nature, like a vast machine, is not to be understood by looking on its superficies, but by dwelling on its minute springs and little wheels."
— Disraeli, Isaac (1766-1848)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for C. and G. Kearsley, and J. Murray
Date
1793
Metaphor
"Human nature, like a vast machine, is not to be understood by looking on its superficies, but by dwelling on its minute springs and little wheels."
Metaphor in Context
It is only the complaint of unreflecting minds, that we collect too many anecdotes. Why is human knowledge imperfect, but because life does not allow of sufficient years to enable us to follow the infinity of nature? The man of most experience, still finds that he has new characters to understand, old opinions to confirm, and knowledge to correct, as well as to acquire. Human nature, like a vast machine, is not to be understood by looking on its superficies, but by dwelling on its minute springs and little wheels. Let us no more then be told, that anecdotes are the little objects of a little mind.
(p. 30)
(p. 30)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in ECCO-TCP
Citation
Only 1 entry in ESTC (1793).
A Dissertation on Anecdotes; by the Author of Curiosities of Literature. (London: Printed for C. and G. Kearsley, and J. Murray, 1793). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO-TCP>
A Dissertation on Anecdotes; by the Author of Curiosities of Literature. (London: Printed for C. and G. Kearsley, and J. Murray, 1793). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
04/29/2014
