But there is no doubt that to attempt a novel of ideas is to give oneself a handicap: the parochialism of our culture is intense. For instance, decade after decade bright young men and women emerge from their universities able to say proudly: 'Of course I know nothing about German literature.' It is the mode. The Victorians knew everything about German literature, but were able with a clear conscience not to know much about the French. Doris Lessing
About This Quote

In this quote, Lawrence Durrell is making a point about the way that the world begins to close in on a person. This could be because you have been exposed to a lot of information and it is hard for you to see anything new. It could also be because the people around you are insisting upon what they know and not listening to what you have to say. If you have been told for years that something is true then it is hard to believe that it might be untrue. In this case, information from people who do not share your same interests can make it difficult for you to find new things to learn about.

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More Quotes By Doris Lessing
  1. Trust no friend without faults, and love a woman, but no angel.
  2. There is no doubt fiction makes a better job of the truth.
  3. Listen Anna, if we don’t believe the things we put on our agendas will come true for us, then there’s no hope for us. We’re going to be saved by what we seriously put on our agendas.
  4. Novels give you the matrix of emotions, give you the flavour of a time in a way formal history cannot.
  5. I don't know much about creative writing programs. But they're not telling the truth if they don't teach, one, that writing is hard work, and, two, that you have to give up a great deal of life, your personal life, to be a writer.
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