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Meaning
The quote says the real mistake is not accepting things for what they are. It warns against pretending a second-best choice is equal to the best, because that can lead to self-deception. It favors honesty about quality and limits.
When It Was Said
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Who It Was Said To
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Historical Context
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Source
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Original Language & Translation
Originally said in English.
Did They Really Say It?
No source found on Wikiquote; the quote is listed as attributed.
Did You Know?
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About Doris Lessing
British novelist
Doris Lessing was a British novelist, born in Iran and later associated with Southern Rhodesia and England. She won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007 and is known for fiction shaped by displacement, political questionings, and changing personal and social worlds. Her novels include The Grass Is Singing, the five-volume Children of Violence sequence, The Golden Notebook, The Good Terrorist, and the five books of Canopus in Argos: Archives. Her work often engages with society, ideology, and the pressures placed on individual lives.
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Books by Doris Lessing
The Golden Notebook
1962
Alfred and Emily
2008
Ben, in the World
2000
Mara and Dann
1999
The Summer Before the Dark
1973