"Nothing is so difficult but that it may be found out by seeking"
About this Quote
Racine’s line flatters the human mind while quietly disciplining it. “Nothing is so difficult” sounds like a brave Enlightenment-adjacent claim, but the hinge is “by seeking”: not by talent, not by luck, not by divine favor. Difficulty isn’t denied; it’s demoted. The sentence turns the world into a legible text, if you’re willing to do the reading.
Coming from a 17th-century French dramatist, this confidence has edge. Racine wrote tragedies where characters are undone less by ignorance than by what they refuse to face in themselves: desire, pride, the compromises that court life demands. In that setting, “seeking” isn’t just intellectual curiosity; it’s moral exposure. The real work is not collecting facts but sustaining attention when the truth threatens your self-image or your standing. The line functions like a quiet rebuke to the cultivated fatalism of aristocratic culture, where people pretend forces are irresistible precisely because admitting agency would require responsibility.
Its craft is also in the passive construction: “may be found out.” Discovery is framed as available, not guaranteed. Racine avoids promising victory; he promises possibility, contingent on effort. That restraint keeps the aphorism from becoming motivational fluff. It’s a compact ethic for a world of intrigue and constraint: you can be hemmed in by rank, etiquette, and passion, but you’re not excused from the search. Seek long enough and even the maze reveals its plan.
Coming from a 17th-century French dramatist, this confidence has edge. Racine wrote tragedies where characters are undone less by ignorance than by what they refuse to face in themselves: desire, pride, the compromises that court life demands. In that setting, “seeking” isn’t just intellectual curiosity; it’s moral exposure. The real work is not collecting facts but sustaining attention when the truth threatens your self-image or your standing. The line functions like a quiet rebuke to the cultivated fatalism of aristocratic culture, where people pretend forces are irresistible precisely because admitting agency would require responsibility.
Its craft is also in the passive construction: “may be found out.” Discovery is framed as available, not guaranteed. Racine avoids promising victory; he promises possibility, contingent on effort. That restraint keeps the aphorism from becoming motivational fluff. It’s a compact ethic for a world of intrigue and constraint: you can be hemmed in by rank, etiquette, and passion, but you’re not excused from the search. Seek long enough and even the maze reveals its plan.
Quote Details
| Topic | Perseverance |
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