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Paradox in The Fallacy of Success

Paradox Examples in The Fallacy of Success:

Text of Chesterton's Essay

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"But these things are about nothing; they are about what is called Success...."   (Text of Chesterton's Essay)

This sentence is a paradox, in that it contradicts itself entirely. “These things,” the books, cannot simultaneously be “about nothing” and be “about what is called Success”—if Success can be defined and named, it’s not exactly nothing. The purpose of this paradox is to equate the two, “nothing” and “what is called Success,” in the reader’s mind, necessitating a pause and a reevaluation of expectations for both terms. One logical outcome of this equation is that “Success” amounts to, or is worth, “nothing.”

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