“ No man knows his own voice; many men do not know their own profiles. ”
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table (1858). copy citation
Author | Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. |
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Source | The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table |
Topic | voice |
Date | 1858 |
Language | English |
Reference | |
Note | |
Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/751/751-h/751-h.htm |
Context
“It may be questioned whether anything can be conscious of its own flavor. Whether the musk-deer, or the civet-cat, or even a still more eloquently silent animal that might be mentioned, is aware of any personal peculiarity, may well be doubted. No man knows his own voice; many men do not know their own profiles. Every one remembers Carlyle’s famous “Characteristics” article; allow for exaggerations, and there is a great deal in his doctrine of the self-unconsciousness of genius. It comes under the great law just stated.”
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