The prevailing taste of the public for anecdote has been censured and ridiculed by critics, who aspire to the character of superior wisdom: but if we consider it in a proper point of view, this taste is an incontestible proof of the good sense and profoundly philosophic temper of the present times. Of the numbers who study, or at least who read history, how few derive any advantage from their labors! . Maria Edgeworth
About This Quote

This quote is an example of the kind of criticism that has been aimed at anecdote. It is an example of attacking the method of collecting stories, rather than the stories themselves. The idea that anecdotes are "silly" or "unimportant stories" is a common misconception. If someone does good, people want to hear about it. The more stories you have about success, the more likely it is that people will learn about the process of success and will become more successful themselves.

Source: Castle Rackrent

Some Similar Quotes
  1. I told him I was going to betray you, and betray Lyra, and he believed me because I was corrupt and full of wickedness; he looked so deep I felt sure he'd see the truth. But I lied too well. I was lying with every... - Philip Pullman
  2. I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love. - Leo Tolstoy
  3. People aren't born good or bad. Maybe they're born with tendencies either way, but its the way you live your life that matters. - Cassandra Clare
  4. The worst memories stick with us, while the nice ones always seem to slip through our fingers. - Rachel Vincent
  5. I do not forget any good deed done to me & I do not carry a grudge for a bad one. - Viktor E. Frankl
More Quotes By Maria Edgeworth
  1. Learning is not cumpulsory... neither is survival.
  2. Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival.
  3. Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your project or service, and that bring friends with them.
  4. The prevailing - and foolish - attitude is that a good manager can be a good manager anywhere, with no special knowledge of the production process he's managing. A man with a financial background may know nothing about manufacturing shoes or cars, but he's put...
  5. We are here to make another world.
Related Topics