p. 24
“

Gradually disbelief became respectable. It acquired a moral character. By the mere fact that it was an integral part of the consciousness of a class—of the bourgeoisie—it became bourgeois. From an individual phenomenon, or a phenomenon confined to certain isolated groups, it became an expression of collective life.

— Bernard Groethuysen

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Gradually disbelief became respectable. It acquired a moral character. By the mere fact that it was an integral part of the consciousness of a class—of the bourgeoisie—it became bourgeois. From an individual phenomenon, or a phenomenon confined to certain isolated groups, it became an expression of collective life." in the context of "p. 24" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Bernard Groethuysen" (Quotes, The Bourgeois: Catholicism vs. Capitalism in Eighteenth-Century France (1927): Origines de l'esprit bourgeois en France (1927), as translated by Mary Ilford (1968)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

About Bernard Groethuysen

Bernard Groethuysen (September 9, 1880 - September 17, 1946) was a French writer and philosopher.