English Language & Usage Asked by Shivji on February 1, 2021
Can someone explain to me the meaning of this sentence?
I
have enough trouble overcoming my own limitations without fretting
over the fact that God has not seen fit to distribute evenly the gift of
intelligence.
Does this sentence mean: I have trouble overcoming my limitations even when I don’t consider the fact that God doesn’t distribute the gift of intelligence evenly.
This sentence is taken from the book How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.
I have enough trouble overcoming my own limitations.
That's enough for me. So I make no effort to ask why God didn't distribute intelligence evenly among men.
Answered by rogermue on February 1, 2021
I have enough trouble doing X without Y.
This kind of frame is used to mean the following. X is already bad, Y would or will make the situation worse. The illocutionary force of this is usually ...
... or alternatively ...
For example:
This would be an example of the first. An example of the second would be:
The Original Poster's example is of the second type:
I have enough trouble overcoming my own limitations without fretting over the fact that God has not seen fit to distribute evenly the gift of intelligence. (Therefore I'm not going to fret about it).
This could be paraphrased as: I have my own problems, I'm not going to make things more difficult by worrying about why people don't all have the same intelligence.
Answered by Araucaria - Not here any more. on February 1, 2021
How to Win Friends etc is a classic that sold millions of copies. Your basic analysis is correct. But Dale Carnegie is making some other points:
(1) if you are smarter than other people that is no credit to you;
(2) people do like it when you tell them they are stupid
It is a variant on the mote and the beam (Mt 7 v1-5.
Answered by almagest on February 1, 2021
It means “I have my own shit to worry about, I’m not gonna waste my time worrying that not everyone was given the gift of intelligence.” Basically saying “It doesn’t keep me up at night that you’re stupid and I’m not, ive got my own shit to deal with”
Answered by Smedley on February 1, 2021
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