Pictures in the Fire (p. 73)
“

I reflected that where vanity of that sort is to be found on one side of a contract there is always hope on the other.

— John Collier

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I reflected that where vanity of that sort is to be found on one side of a contract there is always hope on the other." in the context of "Pictures in the Fire (p. 73)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "John Collier" (Quotes, Fancies and Goodnights (1951): All page numbers are from the mass market paperback edition published by Bantam Books (catalogue# F1703) in December 1957; there have been many editions of the book See the book's Wikipedia page for original publication details Won the 1952 International Fantasy Award ) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 19, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

About John Collier

John Collier (3 May 1901 – 6 April 1980) was a British-born writer and screenwriter best known for his short stories, many of which appeared in The New Yorker from the 1930s to the 1950s.