"The man of parts may be admired for his quickness, as the racer is, who flies before the wind; but it is the draft or road-horse of steadier pace that (like good sense) is useful to mankind."
— Moore, Charles (fl. 1785-90)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J.F. and C. Rivington
Date
1790
Metaphor
"The man of parts may be admired for his quickness, as the racer is, who flies before the wind; but it is the draft or road-horse of steadier pace that (like good sense) is useful to mankind."
Metaphor in Context
Quick parts and good practical sense and judgment are of a very different complexion [r], and have not unfrequently a separate existence. Men are caught indeed by the effusions of a brilliant fancy and bright imagination; but its refulgence and flashes, like the coruscations of the diamond, serve only to sparkle in the eye of the beholder, and to dazzle his sight, without further use or advantage to any one: whereas practical good sense circulates like current coin to general profit. Shining parts, like the bright colourings of porcelain, or the lustres of glass in a well furnished house, are beautiful decorations and striking ornaments; but good sense, like the solid service of plate, is alone substantial and intrinsically valuable. Sound judgment is of daily life, not only to its possessor, but to all, who have the good fortune to be connected with him. There is no station in life, which a plain, good understanding does not adorn, no occurrence of daily experience, which does not partake of its genial influence. The man of parts may be admired for his quickness, as the racer is, who flies before the wind; but it is the draft or road-horse of steadier pace that (like good sense) is useful to mankind. It is not the warmth and elevations of fancy, or the quick and bright assemblage of ideas, which irradiate the paths of beneficial truth; since none are more liable to error than they, who conduct themselves by the wild and dancing light of imagination alone. None can less bear the sobriety of plain reasoning, or have less patience to trace the process of a serious argument than they, whose fire and vivacity make them love nothing, but what is uncommon, marvellous, and striking. But useful truths and moral duties are neither uncommon nor marvellous; and consequently the exalted and elastic genius is apt to decry the poor, low, groveling spirit of those, who seek to conciliate the affections and to deserve the respect of mankind, by an anxiety to perform the plain duties of social life. The fear of being shackled by vulgar rules and vulgar opinions without inquiring into their propriety, decency, or truth, is the bane of many a promising genius, who owes his ruin to what he prides himself on possessing—-superior abilities; since these may be specious without solidity, and showy without sense.—-Such an one may likewise be endued (or think he is so) with a soul of sensibility; but not having cultivated the practical powers of a discriminating judgment, his affectation of sentiment will lead him captive at will, and his acute feelings will as often be exercised on wrong as right objects. He will encroach in many a particular on the powers of this poor tortured word, and will plead a sensibility in love, in friendship, in compliance with evil, as a sufficient, nay a meritorious excuse for transgressing the plainest rules of common sense and common morality. So little then are either bright parts, or the mere effusions of sentiment to be deemed respectable, unless they submit to be guided by discretion, prudence, and judgment; they may assist as ornamental and enlivening auxiliaries, but are too capricious, volatile, and unsteady, to be ever safely entrusted with the supreme command.
(pp. 371-2)
(pp. 371-2)
Categories
Provenance
Browsing in Google Books
Citation
Charles Moore, A Full Inquiry into the Subject of Suicide (London: Rivington, 1790). <Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
05/20/2011
