Chapter 1, “Black Candles” (p. 6)
“
I used to regard a road sweeper as a person inferior to myself. Now, I rather doubt it. Something is dirty, he makes it clean, and the state of the world is advanced. But I—what have I done? Entrenched a ruling class which is distinguished by neither talent, culture, nor wit; kept alive for one more generation the distinctions of a dead age.
— John le Carré
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I used to regard a road sweeper as a person inferior to myself. Now, I rather doubt it. Something is dirty, he makes it clean, and the state of the world is advanced. But I—what have I done? Entrenched a ruling class which is distinguished by neither talent, culture, nor wit; kept alive for one more generation the distinctions of a dead age." in the context of "Chapter 1, “Black Candles” (p. 6)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "John le Carré" (Quotes, A Murder of Quality (1962): Numerous editions. Page numbers here are from the hardcover edition published by Walker & Company in 2004, , first printing )
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About John le Carré
John le Carré is the pen-name of David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 1931 – 12 December 2020), who was a British writer of spy novels and a former spy himself.
About John le Carré
John le Carré is the pen-name of David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 1931 – 12 December 2020), who was a British writer of spy novels and a former spy himself.
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