Sentence: The chapters “How to Be a Good Friend” and “How to Put Books Down” show from passages in Proust’s novel and life how a realistic, even cynical estimate of the value of friendship can fitly support extravagant efforts of cordiality and flattery (his friends coined “the verb to proustify to express a slightly too conscious attitude of geniality, together with what would vulgarly have been called affectations, interminable and delicious”), and how the most passionate devotion to an author, such as Proust paid to John Ruskin, properly stops short of idolatry, as when Proust concluded that Ruskin was frequently “silly, maniacal, constraining, false and ridiculous.” (Source: alaindebotton.com)
Meaning: Worship of an idol or a physical object; Excessive admiration
How To Remember?
As for the word “Serpentine” (Click here to check the meaning), it is easy to remember the meaning of the word “Idolatry“. An “Idol” is an image or representation of God. It is also used to describe a person or object greatly admired. And “Idolatry” is the worship or admiration of the idol.
For more words, click here!
Picture Credit: cust.idl.com.au
[Religious Idolatry versus Modern Idolatry]
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Categories: Learning English