"When I can't talk sense, I talk metaphor"
About this Quote
There is a sly confession hiding in Curran's line: rhetoric is often the elegant workaround for evidence. "Talk sense" is plain speech with accountable meaning, the kind that can be cross-examined. When that fails, he admits, he reaches for metaphor - language that feels true without having to be pinned down as true. Coming from an Irish lawyer, parliamentarian, and famed orator, the remark lands as both self-mockery and professional candor. In the courtroom and the House, persuasion rarely rewards the person who is merely correct; it rewards the person who can frame a story people will accept.
The intent is not to denigrate metaphor so much as to expose its double use. Metaphor can clarify what logic can't; it can also launder confusion into coherence. Curran lets you see the magician's sleeve. He knows audiences are moved less by syllogisms than by images that make an argument feel inevitable. The subtext: if you can't win on the facts, you can still win on the vibe - and everyone in public life is tempted to do it.
Context sharpens the cynicism. Late-18th-century politics in Ireland and Britain was a world of penal laws, unrest, and high-stakes advocacy where direct claims could be dangerous, censored, or strategically unwise. Metaphor becomes both shield and spear: a way to smuggle critique past power while also, at times, obscuring weak positions. It's a compact warning from inside the machine: listen for the moment when poetry substitutes for proof.
The intent is not to denigrate metaphor so much as to expose its double use. Metaphor can clarify what logic can't; it can also launder confusion into coherence. Curran lets you see the magician's sleeve. He knows audiences are moved less by syllogisms than by images that make an argument feel inevitable. The subtext: if you can't win on the facts, you can still win on the vibe - and everyone in public life is tempted to do it.
Context sharpens the cynicism. Late-18th-century politics in Ireland and Britain was a world of penal laws, unrest, and high-stakes advocacy where direct claims could be dangerous, censored, or strategically unwise. Metaphor becomes both shield and spear: a way to smuggle critique past power while also, at times, obscuring weak positions. It's a compact warning from inside the machine: listen for the moment when poetry substitutes for proof.
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| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
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