Friday 21 August 2009

Novelty

“Novelty pleases all because it is uncommon, taste is refreshed, and a brand new mediocrity is thought more of than accustomed excellence.”

Balthasar Gracián, The Art of Worldly Wisdom, tr. J. Jacobs (London: MacMillan and Co., 1892), §.cclxix, p.162.

3 comments:

dearieme said...

The translation is a little clunky.

James Higham said...

Baby and bathwater spring to mind.

xlbrl said...

No theory is so firmly believed as what we least know--Montaigne