Ch. 24: Vale (p. 258)
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You imply our education is of no use to you in after life. But no education is. We are not an employment agency; all we can do is to give you a grounding in the art of mixing with your fellow men, to tell you what to expect from life and give you an outward manner and inward poise, an old prescription from the eighteenth century which we call a classical education, an education which confers the infrequent virtues of good sense and good taste and the benefit of dual nationality, English and Mediterranean, and which, taking into account the difficulties of modern life, we find the philosophy best able to overcome them.

— Cyril Connolly

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "You imply our education is of no use to you in after life. But no education is. We are not an employment agency; all we can do is to give you a grounding in the art of mixing with your fellow men, to tell you what to expect from life and give you an outward manner and inward poise, an old prescription from the eighteenth century which we call a classical education, an education which confers the infrequent virtues of good sense and good taste and the benefit of dual nationality, English and Mediterranean, and which, taking into account the difficulties of modern life, we find the philosophy best able to overcome them." in the context of "Ch. 24: Vale (p. 258)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Cyril Connolly" (Quotes, Enemies of Promise (1938): Andre Deutsch Limited, , Part 3: A Georgian Boyhood) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Cyril Connolly

About Cyril Connolly

Cyril Vernon Connolly (10 September 1903 – 26 November 1974) was an English author, editor and critic.