“One who ingeniously deceived himself by cleverly falling into the snare of cleverness, alas…what has he not lost when in eternity it appears that he deceived himself?”
—Kierkegaard, Works of Love, ch.1
“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” —1 Corinthians 1:20
“She was bewildered amidst the confusion of all that had rushed on her within the last few hours. Every moment had brought a fresh surprise; and every surprise must be matter of humiliation to her.—How to understand it all! How to understand the deceptions she had been thus practising on herself, and living under!” —Austen, Emma, vol. 3, ch. xi
I tend to worry about the skills clever people have to deceive others—to cloud the truth with their sophistry. But Kierkegaard knows that cleverness is also dangerous for the clever person. If you know how to spin traps, who’s to say you won’t fall into your own web?
And, of course, this is exactly what the great novels of Austen, Eliot, and Trollope explore in painful depth. Some of their characters are fortunate enough to have their self-deceit revealed this side of eternity…but not all are so lucky.
The lucky ones, or the blessed ones, discover that God “catches the wise in their craftiness” — and to be so caught is excruciating. But it’s the very best net to be caught in. “All are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.”
