Opening Line of the Week
The entire first paragraph of LaGreca’s novel is very well written, but the concluding metaphor is nothing short of spectacular. To me, it perfectly captures the critical, character-forming role that an insatiable curiosity can play in a young, developing human being.
For nearly 2,000 memorable opening lines from every genre of world literature, go to www.GreatOpeningLines.com.
This Week’s Puzzler
On April 14, 1889, this man was born in London. Growing up in an extended family of prominent English intellectuals, it seemed only natural that he would follow suit. After graduating from Oxford, he embarked on an enormously successful career as an educator and historian.
He will be forever remembered as the author of A Study of History, a 12-volume project that consumed most of his professional life (the first volume was published in 1934, the final one in 1961). Today, his magnum opus is regarded as a classic not simply for its scholarship, but also for its sweeping scale and erudition. Many historians have hailed the man behind the work:
“[His] emphasis on the role of moral and spiritual factors in the rise and fall of civilizations challenges us to rethink our assumptions about progress and decline in human societies.” — Karen Armstrong
“[His] work reminds us that history is not just a record of events, but a dialogue between past and present, a conversation about the human condition and the forces that shape our destiny.” — Niall Ferguson
He received many honors in his lifetime, and was the subject of a Time magazine cover story in 1947. At a 1961 press conference announcing the completion of his historic, multi-volume project, he was asked by a reporter, “What purpose has impelled you to devote thirty-five years of your life to this single great work?” He gave a legendary answer:
Who is this person? (Answer below)
What Role Has Curiosity Played in Your Life?
If one can refer to a one-word answer as a quotation—and, given the circumstances, I believe it is possible—then this week’s Puzzler presents perhaps the pithiest remark ever made on this week’s theme.
Eight years later, in an essay in his book Experiences (1969), this week’s Mystery Man spoke a bit more expansively on the subject, writing: “The ultimate objective of all curiosity” is to learn “the spiritual reality behind the phenomena” being investigated. For this reason, he went on to add:
“Curiosity has something divine in it.”
One other illustration of the single word curiosity making news occurred in 2009 when the folks at NASA sponsored a nationwide contest to select a name for the rover vehicle they hoped to land on the surface of Mars in 2011. From over 9,000 proposals, the winning entry was—yes, you guessed it correctly—“Curiosity.” The name was submitted by 12-year-old Clara Ma, a 6th-grade student at the Sunflower Elementary School in Lenexa, Kansas. Clara’s winning entry won her a trip to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, where she signed her name on the newly-named Curiosity Rover as it was being assembled. The essay that accompanied her nomination was beautifully written:
The American Heritage Dictionary defines the noun curiosity as “A desire to know or learn.” The corresponding adjective is curious, which the AHD defines as “Eager to learn.” Both words derive from the Latin cūriōsus, meaning “careful, inquisitive.”
In his classic Leviathan (1651), Thomas Hobbes famously described curiosity as “a lust of the mind.” He added that the satisfaction of curiosity provided even more pleasure than carnal delights. Samuel Johnson, in a 1751 issue of The Rambler, was also thinking along metaphorical lines when he wrote:
“Curiosity is the thirst of the soul.”
According to William James, the newborn child perceives the world as “one great blooming, buzzing confusion.” That state of affairs soon changes dramatically, though, as babies begin to instinctually explore and investigate their new environment. Edmund Burke described it well in A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757):
“The first and the simplest emotion which we discover in the human mind is Curiosity.”
A little more than two centuries later, Desmond Morris carried the idea further when he wrote on the subject of curiosity:
For children, the world is like a giant candy story, with an enormous variety of morsels that might appeal to a young learner’s sweet tooth. In my case, the printed page was my confectionary of choice, and, for as long as I can remember, the most common thing I heard my parents say about me was, “He always has his nose in a book.” In my lifetime, there have been thousands of examples of curiosity at work, but let me mention only one.
In the early 1990s, just before turning fifty, I was looking up circumlocution in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). I knew what it meant—a lengthy and roundabout way of talking—but I wanted to see the formal definition in case there was anything else I could learn. As I was searching for the word, I accidentally stumbled upon a word I’d never seen before: chiasmus. “Hmmm, what does that mean?” I thought. I examined the definition: “A grammatical figure by which the order of words in one of two parallel clauses is inverted in the other.”
To be honest, I wasn’t exactly bowled over by the definition, but the OED example fascinated me:
“As in Lord Byron’s ‘Pleasure’s a sin, and sometimes sin’s a pleasure’.”
The whole experience could’ve easily ended there, with me thinking, “It’s always nice to learn a new word.” My curiosity quickly took hold, however, and I found myself thinking, “I wonder how many other examples of chiasmus (pronounced ky-AZ-mus) there are in the world.” In search of more specimens, I began scouring the quote books in my personal library.
I soon found Mae West’s famous quotation, “It’s not the men in your life, it’s the life in your men,” and that observation brought to mind JFK’s legendary “Ask not what your country can do for you” question. I then discovered Churchill’s immortal quip, “I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.” And by the time I discovered Joey Bishop’s “Never let a fool kiss you or a kiss fool you,” I was completely hooked. The Bishop line ultimately became the title of my 1999 book on the subject—the first popular book ever written on the subject of this most fascinating literary device. It was also the first of eight quotation anthologies I would go on to produce. Looking back, I think it’s fair to say that none of those books would’ve appeared if I was a less curious person.
While curiosity is generally regarded as a virtue, throughout history, many have viewed it as a vice. In his famous Confessions (circa 398 A.D.), St. Augustine was almost certainly thinking of his early years as a libertine when he referred to “This disease of curiosity.” And in a classic 1621 work, Robert Burton clearly had the famous Garden of Eden story in mind when he described curiosity this way:
Curiosity may also be accurately described as a negative trait when we see people who are so unduly inquisitive they are viewed as “prying” or “nosy” (from the expression “sticking one’s nose into another’s business.” And, of course, there is also a major situational component, as we see in an observation in Thomas Fuller’s Gnomologia (1732):
“Curiosity is ill manners in another’s house.”
In general, though curiosity is highly regarded, and can even provide some unexpected benefits. For example, I’ve noticed that curious people are often regarded as caring people as well—and it makes sense when you stop to think about it. When curious people make new acquaintances, it’s not uncommon for them to ask probing-but-socially-acceptable questions like, “So, what was it like to grow up on a farm?” or “What prompted your early interest in hang-gliding?” or, to someone who’s volunteered information about a major childhood trauma, “How would you say those early events affected the rest of your life?” Compared to self-absorbed people, who love to talk about themselves, curious people love to learn about the essentials of other people’s lives—and, while it can be occasionally be carried to excess, these expressions of interest are generally deeply appreciated.
For me, curiosity showed up when I was very young, and now that I’m old, it’s still playing a major role in my life. It’s not as wide and free-ranging as it was in my earlier years, now preferring to work in a number of the deep furrows I’ve carved out for myself. Edith Wharton might have been speaking for me when, at age seventy-five, she wrote in her autobiography:
This week, think about how curious you've been during the course of your life. Go back as far as you can remember, and work your way up to the present. You might even want to rate how curious you’ve been on a scale from one to ten (lowest to highest). After you do, ask a few close friends to rate you on the same scale—and let me know if there are any surprises. As usual, here’s a sampling of my favorite quotations on the subject:
The greatest weapons in the conquest of knowledge are an understanding mind and the inexorable curiosity that drives it on. — Isaac Asimov
If you bring curiosity to your work it will cease to be merely a job and become a door through which you enter the best that life has to give you. — Robertson Davies
When curiosity turns to serious matters, it’s called research. — Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach,
The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards. — Anatole France
A generous and elevated mind is distinguished by nothing more certainly than an eminent degree of curiosity. — Dr. Samuel Johnson
Satisfaction of one’s curiosity is one of the greatest sources of happiness in life. — Linus Pauling
One of the secrets of life is to keep our intellectual curiosity acute. — William Lyon Phelps
At a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity. — Eleanor Roosevelt
Curiosity is one of those insatiable passions that grow by gratification. — Sarah Scott, written in 1762
Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning. — William Arthur Ward
For source information on these quotations, and many others on the topic of CURIOSITY, go here.
Cartoon of the Week:
Answer to This Week’s Puzzler:
Arnold J. Toynbee (1889-1975)
Dr. Mardy’s Observation of the Week:
Thanks for joining me again this week. See you next Sunday morning, when the theme will be “Insecurity.”
Mardy Grothe
Websites: www.drmardy.com and www.GreatOpeningLines.com
Regarding My Lifelong Love of Quotations: A Personal Note
Dr. Marty, I am surprised there is no mention of Albert Einstein explaining his genius when he famously said, "I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious."
Just passionately following your posts of quotes.
Mardy Grothe's curiosity is combined with enthusiasm, generosity of spirit & a true love of learning.
It is one thing to be curious; it needs to coupled with the desire to take steps to learn more about what has ignited one's curiosity.