Confusion

Famous quotes containing the word confusion:

    [Allegory] should ... be very sparingly practised, lest, whilst the writer plays with his own fancies and diverts himself by cutting the air with his wide spread wings, he should soar out of view of his readers, leaving them in confusion and perplexity to explore his viewless track.
    Sarah Fielding (1710–1768)

    The confusion of emotions with behavior causes no end of unnecessary trouble to both adults and children. Behavior can be commanded; emotions can’t. An adult can put controls on a child’s behavior—at least part of the time—but how do you put controls on what a child feels? An adult can impose controls on his own behavior—if he’s grown up—but how does he order what he feels?
    Leontine Young (20th century)

    A woman’s beauty is a storm-tossed banner;
    Under it wisdom stands, and I alone
    Of all Arabia’s lovers I alone
    Nor dazzled by the embroidery, nor lost
    In the confusion of its night-dark folds,
    Can hear the armed man speak.
    William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)