"I am apt to think that as Plants are choak'd with too much Moisture, and Lamps with too much Oil; so it happens to the Mind of Man, when it is embarass'd with too much Study and Matter; for being confounded with a great Variety of Things, it loses the Power of extricating itself, and so is render'd useless."
— Anonymous
Author
Place of Publication
Dublin
Publisher
James Hoey
Date
1765
Metaphor
"I am apt to think that as Plants are choak'd with too much Moisture, and Lamps with too much Oil; so it happens to the Mind of Man, when it is embarass'd with too much Study and Matter; for being confounded with a great Variety of Things, it loses the Power of extricating itself, and so is render'd useless."
Metaphor in Context
Plutarch says, That Grecian and Scholar were Names of Contempt among the Romans, just as the Name of Pedant is among us. I am apt to think that as Plants are choak'd with too much Moisture, and Lamps with too much Oil; so it happens to the Mind of Man, when it is embarass'd with too much Study and Matter; for being confounded with a great Variety of Things, it loses the Power of extricating itself, and so is render'd useless.
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(170)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in Google Books
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
