--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I should be glad if I could flatter…" description: "\"I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes.\" — Edward Eve..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5af/edward-everett-15538_civil-war_i-should-be-glad-if-i-could-flatter-myse_622641.png" --- # I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as… ![“I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes.” quote by Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5af/edward-everett-15538_civil-war_i-should-be-glad-if-i-could-flatter-myse_622641.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5af/edward-everett-15538_civil-war_i-should-be-glad-if-i-could-flatter-myse_622641.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5af/edward-everett-15538_civil-war_i-should-be-glad-if-i-could-flatter-myse_622641.png) > “I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes.” [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He jokes that he grasped the main point much faster than the other person, highlighting a humorous self‑deprecation about speed of understanding. **In simple terms:** He claims he understood the core idea quickly, more so than the other. Key Takeaway Recognize your own strengths without over‑inflating them. Themes humor self‑deprecation intellectual comparison Mood lighthearted reflective Type aphilosophical humorous When to use this quote - academic lectures - debates - quick analyses - self‑assessment Key Concepts ego perception communication Questions to Reflect On - Do you value speed over depth? - How does humor soften self‑critique? A Different Perspective May overlook depth for speed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civil war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-war/) [Gettysburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gettysburg/) [Gettysburg address](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gettysburg-address/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Occasions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occasions/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [“Seconds before, we were a boy and a girl standing next to each other. The distance between our bodies was out of habit and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-truong/seconds-before-we-were-a-boy-and-a-girl-standing-next-to-each-other/) [Monique Truong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-truong/) > [“I have said it before, but I don't think I have ever came so near meaning it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/i-have-said-it-before-but-i-don-t-think-i-have-ever-came-so-near/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [Nothing is made in vain, but the fly came near it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/nothing-is-made-in-vain-but-the-fly-came-near-it/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Strategy is not a lengthy action plan. It is the evolution of a central idea through continually changing circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-welch/strategy-is-not-a-lengthy-action-plan-it-is-the-evolution-of-a/) [Jack Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-welch/) > [“With this approach, every message should have one central idea, application, insight, or principle that serves as the glue to hold the other parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-stanley/with-this-approach-every-message-should-have-one-central-idea/) [Andy Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-stanley/) > [There is, as Emerson says, some central idea or conception of yourself by which all the facts of your life are arranged and classified.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-d-wattles/there-is-as-emerson-says-some-central-idea-or-conception-of-yourself/) [Wallace D. Wattles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-d-wattles/) > [“This idea that in order to make a decision you need to focus on the consequences (which you can know) rather than the probability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/this-idea-that-in-order-to-make-a-decision-you-need-to-focus-on-the/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [We're always looking for the backbone, the central idea, and once you have that you know everything can circle around it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-mckay/we-re-always-looking-for-the-backbone-the-central-idea-and-once-you/) [Adam McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-mckay/) > [In my music, my plays, my films, I want to carry always this central idea: to be African.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-robeson/in-my-music-my-plays-my-films-i-want-to-carry-always-this-central/) [Paul Robeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-robeson/) > [“You find in Krishna that non-attachment is the central idea.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/you-find-in-krishna-that-non-attachment-is-the-central-idea/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [You know, putting power in people's hands was the central idea of the conservative platform. And so, to me, the E.U. was the direct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-hilton/you-know-putting-power-in-people-s-hands-was-the-central-idea-of-the/) [Steve Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-hilton/) > [The central idea in The Black Swan is that: rare events cannot be estimated from empirical observation since they are rare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-central-idea-in-the-black-swan-is-that-rare-events-cannot-be/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [ “take Buddha. The central idea \[is\] sacrifice.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/take-buddha-the-central-idea-is-sacrifice/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“The central idea of the great part of the Old Testament may be called the idea of the loneliness of God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/the-central-idea-of-the-great-part-of-the-old-testament-may-be-called/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [Every garden scheme should have a backbone, a central idea beautifully phrased. Every wall, path, stone and flower should have its relationship to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-lutyens/every-garden-scheme-should-have-a-backbone-a-central-idea-beautifully/) [Edwin Lutyens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-lutyens/) ## More by Edward Everett > [What subsists to-day by violence continues to-morrow by acquiescence and is perpetuated by tradition; till at last the hoary abuse shakes the gray hairs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/what-subsists-to-day-by-violence-continues-to-morrow-by-acquiescence/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [It was appointed by law in Athens, that the obsequies of the citizens who fell in battle should be performed at the public expense,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/it-was-appointed-by-law-in-athens-that-the-obsequies-of-the-citizens/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [I will not refuse to do something that I can do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/i-will-not-refuse-to-do-something-that-i-can-do/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [Not a moment had been lost by General Hooker in the pursuit of Lee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/not-a-moment-had-been-lost-by-general-hooker-in-the-pursuit-of-lee/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/education-is-a-better-safeguard-of-liberty-than-a-standing-army/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [Freedom may come quickly in robes of peace or after ages of conflict and war, but come it will, and abide it will, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/freedom-may-come-quickly-in-robes-of-peace-or-after-ages-of-conflict/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [An earthly immortality belongs to a great and good character. History embalms it; it lives in its moral influence, in its authority, in its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/an-earthly-immortality-belongs-to-a-great-and-good-character-history/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [This glorious union shall not perish! Precious legacy of our fathers, it shall go down honored and cherished to our children. Generations unborn shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/this-glorious-union-shall-not-perish-precious-legacy-of-our-fathers/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [When I am dead, no pageant train shall waste their sorrows at my bier. Nor worthless pomp of homage vain stain it with hypocritic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/when-i-am-dead-no-pageant-train-shall-waste-their-sorrows-at-my-bier/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [Agriculture seems to be the first pursuit of civilized man. It enables him to escape from the life of the savage, and wandering shepherd,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/agriculture-seems-to-be-the-first-pursuit-of-civilized-man-it-enables/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [Does it seem all but incredible to you that intelligence should travel for two thousand miles, along those slender copper lines, far down in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/does-it-seem-all-but-incredible-to-you-that-intelligence-should/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [“Education safeguards liberty better than a standing army.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/education-safeguards-liberty-better-than-a-standing-army/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [We are blessed with a faith, which calls into action the whole intellectual man; which prescribes a reasonable service; which challenges the investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/we-are-blessed-with-a-faith-which-calls-into-action-the-whole/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [The highest historical probability can be adduced in support of the proposition that, if it were possible to annihilate the Bible, and with it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/the-highest-historical-probability-can-be-adduced-in-support-of-the/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [We have now in our possession three instruments of civilization, unknown to antiquity. These are the art of printing; free representative government; and, lastly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/we-have-now-in-our-possession-three-instruments-of-civilization/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) [Explore all 43 Edward Everett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) ## More Civil war quotes > [“Time overlaps itself. A breath breathed from a passing breeze is not the whole wind, neither is it just the last of what has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/time-overlaps-itself-a-breath-breathed-from-a-passing-breeze-is-not/) [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) > [“Whatever happened in those more than one hundred years, from the time my great-great-great grandfather studied law to the time when my own father…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwenn-wright/whatever-happened-in-those-more-than-one-hundred-years-from-the-time/) [Gwenn Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwenn-wright/) > [“AUSTRALIA, LIKE THE UNITED STATES, experienced a different path to inclusive institutions than the one taken by England. The same revolutions that shook England…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daron-acemo-lu/australia-like-the-united-states-experienced-a-different-path-to/) [Daron Acemoğlu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daron-acemo-lu/) > [“These are all good things, I said. But no one knows where your country is or who you are. You don't have a familiar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/these-are-all-good-things-i-said-but-no-one-knows-where-your-country/) [Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/) > [“Thinking about the weather was one way of shutting out of his mind the appalling bloody human mess sprawled out over the bed of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ellis/thinking-about-the-weather-was-one-way-of-shutting-out-of-his-mind/) [Mark Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ellis/) > [It cost about 75 cents to kill a man in Ceasar's time. The price rose to about $3,000 per man during the Napoleonic wars;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer-bone/it-cost-about-75-cents-to-kill-a-man-in-ceasar-s-time-the-price-rose/) Homer Bone > [Alabama soldiers, all I ask of you is to keep up with the Texans!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-lee/alabama-soldiers-all-i-ask-of-you-is-to-keep-up-with-the-texans/) [Robert E. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-e-lee/) > [“ “In the South, football is confused with religion, chivalry, the Civil War, and women.” -Diane Roberts, The Quotable South ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-ford/in-the-south-football-is-confused-with-religion-chivalry-the-civil/) [Deborah Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-ford/) > [“By the following morning, September 15, Jackson had positioned nearly fifty guns on Maryland Heights and at the base of Loudoun Heights.  Then he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-river-editors/by-the-following-morning-september-15-jackson-had-positioned-nearly/) [Charles River Editors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-river-editors/) > [Strange, (is it not?) that battles, martyrs, blood, even assassination should so condense - perhaps only really lastingly condense - a Nationality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/strange-is-it-not-that-battles-martyrs-blood-even-assassination/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [You must study to be frank with the world: frankness is the child of honesty and courage. Say just what you mean to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-lee/you-must-study-to-be-frank-with-the-world-frankness-is-the-child-of/) [Robert E. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-e-lee/) > [“Civil wars...are the best wars for the writer...because they have a way of continuing long afterwl wars between nations are resolved; because, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/civil-wars-are-the-best-wars-for-the-writer-because-they-have-a-way/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [I am out of money,we are all out of money,but we dont need money down here- Dont need anything but Men , Muskets, Ammunition,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-connolly/i-am-out-of-money-we-are-all-out-of-money-but-we-dont-need-money-down/) James A. Connolly > [Affirmative action was designed to recognize the uniquely difficult journey of African-Americans. This policy was justifiable and understandable, even to those who came from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-webb/affirmative-action-was-designed-to-recognize-the-uniquely-difficult/) [Jim Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-webb/) > [“Only twenty - nine years in the entire human history had been without warfare, and now here he was too, travelling between the episodes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/only-twenty-nine-years-in-the-entire-human-history-had-been-without/) [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) [Browse all 1,714 Civil war quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-war/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Everett" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/i-should-be-glad-if-i-could-flatter-myself-that-i-came-as-near-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Civil war" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/i-should-be-glad-if-i-could-flatter-myself-that-i-came-as-near-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5af/edward-everett-15538_civil-war_i-should-be-glad-if-i-could-flatter-myse_622641.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5af/edward-everett-15538_civil-war_i-should-be-glad-if-i-could-flatter-myse_622641.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5af/edward-everett-15538_civil-war_i-should-be-glad-if-i-could-flatter-myse_622641.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near the central idea of the occasion, in two…” — Edward Everett", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Edward Everett", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I should be glad if I...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/i-should-be-glad-if-i-could-flatter-myself-that-i-came-as-near-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/i-should-be-glad-if-i-could-flatter-myself-that-i-came-as-near-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```