Robertson Davies said this quote

“ So -- I confess I have been a rake at reading. I have read those things which I ought not to have read, and I have not read those things which I ought to have read, and there is no health in me -- if by health you mean an inclusive and coherent knowledge of any body of great literature. I can only protest, like all rakes in their shameful senescence, that I have had a good time. ”

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The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.

~ Robertson Davies

Robertson Davies Belief Bias Knowledge Perception Philosophy Reality

I am quite a wise old bird, but I am no desert hermit who can only prophesy when his guts are knotted with hunger. I am deep in the old man’s puzzle, trying to link the wisdom of the body with the wisdom of the spirit until the two are one.

~ Robertson Davies

Robertson Davies Fate Life And Death Wisdom

But the character of the music emphasized the tale as allegory--humorous, poignant, humane allegory--disclosing the metamorphosis of life itself, in which man moves from confident inexperience through the bitterness of experience, toward the rueful wisdom of self-knowledge.

~ Robertson Davies

Robertson Davies Inexperience Life Music Self Knowledge Wisdom

Happiness is always a by-product. It is probably a matter of temperament, and for anything I know it may be glandular. But it is not something that can be demanded from life, and if you are not happy you had better stop worrying about it and see what treasures you can pluck from your own brand of unhappiness.

~ Robertson Davies

Robertson Davies Happiness Pessimism Unhappiness