"The best Way to prove the Clearness of our Mind is by shewing its Faults; as when a Stream discovers the Dirt at the Bottom, it convinces us of the Transparency and Purity of the Water."
— Anonymous
Author
Place of Publication
Dublin
Publisher
James Hoey
Date
1765
Metaphor
"The best Way to prove the Clearness of our Mind is by shewing its Faults; as when a Stream discovers the Dirt at the Bottom, it convinces us of the Transparency and Purity of the Water."
Metaphor in Context
The best Jewellers use the least Silver; and he that will set his Thoughts to Advantage must not over-load them with Words.
The best Way to prove the Clearness of our Mind is by shewing its Faults; as when a Stream discovers the Dirt at the Bottom, it convinces us of the Transparency and Purity of the Water.
(27)
The best Way to prove the Clearness of our Mind is by shewing its Faults; as when a Stream discovers the Dirt at the Bottom, it convinces us of the Transparency and Purity of the Water.
(27)
Provenance
Found searching in Google Books, but the maxim is, in fact, drawn from Alexander Pope. See Patricia Meyer Spacks, An Argument of Images: The Poetry of Alexander Pope (Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1971), 4.
Citation
An Index to Mankind: or Maxims Selected from the Wits of all Nations (Dublin: James Hoey, 1765). <Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
11/23/2011
