The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second. -John Steinbeck, novelist, Nobel laureate (1902-1968)
Hotspring 44
03-02-2014, 04:27 PM
The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system.
Concomitants (https://www.thefreedictionary.com/concomitants) (?) :hmmm:.
I did not know what the word "concomitants (https://www.thefreedictionary.com/concomitants)" meant so I looked it up and I am most certainly am still not knowing what the sentence is supposed to mean. Is it sarcastic, tongue and cheek, righteous, deadly serious, or?
:dunno:I don't get it.:dunno:
Sara S
03-02-2014, 10:13 PM
I'm glad you wrote about this; I just assumed that "concomitants" meant "causes" when I posted this quote, but now I had to look it up, so I learned a new word! The sentence is very serious, and Steinbeck uses the word as a noun, although it seems to be most used as an adjective, and means "accompaniment" or "associated", so a bit less than "cause". Those virtues he lists go along with failure in our system.
I did not know what the word "concomitants (https://www.thefreedictionary.com/concomitants)" meant so I looked it up and I am most certainly am still not knowing what the sentence is supposed to mean. Is it sarcastic, tongue and cheek, righteous, deadly serious, or?
:dunno:I don't get it.:dunno:
Hotspring 44
03-03-2014, 06:55 PM
It seems to me that everything (male, female, intentional or unintentional; or whatever else and whatever combination thereof, etc.) that is any part of the workings, no matter how subtle within a functioning system (yet may be “failing system”) is in it's own way “concomitant (https://www.thefreedictionary.com/concomitant)”, so I wonder why men are so singled-out?...
...I'm not complaining about that (at this point anyway), I am just not understanding the specific context of the statement... :2cents: ...it (the statement in question),seems to me to be potentially specific but I tend to think of it as more of an abstract statement with a notable lack of direct specificity to any causality Per se (https://dictionary.reference.com/browse/per+se), and seems to be (to me anyway) more poetic than literally explanatory-scientifically motivated.
I'm glad you wrote about this; I just assumed that "concomitants" meant "causes" when I posted this quote, but now I had to look it up, so I learned a new word! The sentence is very serious, and Steinbeck uses the word as a noun, although it seems to be most used as an adjective, and means "accompaniment" or "associated", so a bit less than "cause". Those virtues he lists go along with failure in our system.