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Newguest Posted 15 years ago
Vocabulary

Granted then ...

Hi

The author of a book is writing how thoughts influence our lives:

Two people are exposed to the same infection. One contracts

the complaint, the other is unaffected. Why? You may say that the one

who escapes is more robust and hardy, but this is not always so, for

frequently the strong are taken and the weak are left. You may say,

further, that the one who escapes possesses greater powers of

resistance. Just so, but is not this largely due to the mind? It is the one

who is most positively minded who is immune.

Granted then the necessity for and desirability of, an absence of fear,

how are we to overcome our hereditary failing? Most of us harbour fear

of some kind; for although fearless in some things we may yet have

other fears lurking in the hidden caverns of our mind. We may be

physically brave and yet have fears for our business, our profession, or

our employment.

--- I don't understand what the author is trying to say in that bolded sentence. The construction "granted then ..." seems strange to me and I'm not sure what his point is?
  

Top answer

I agree with you, Newguest. It's not clear and I had to read the paragraphs carefully before I understood. "Granted that/then" is another way of saying "I agree or admit to (someone) that (something) is true.

  • I agree with you, Newguest.
  • It's not clear and I had to read the paragraphs carefully before I understood.
  • "Granted that/then" is another way of saying "I agree or admit to (someone) that (something) is true.
  • Example, he hasn't made much progress, I'll grant you that.
  • Another way of saying the part in bold would be "I agree that it's necessary and desirable for us to have no fear, but how are we to overcome the fact that fear is built into each of us?
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4 Answers
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I agree with you, Newguest.

It's not clear and I had to read the paragraphs carefully before I understood.

"Granted that/then" is another way of saying "I agree or admit to (someone) that (something) is true. Example, he hasn't made much progress, I'll grant you that.

Another way of saying the part in bold would be "I agree that it's necessary and desirable for us to hav
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Yes, it helps. Thank you!
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Granted then the necessity for and desirability of, an absence of fear,

how are we to overcome our hereditary failing?

This means, more or less:

In view of what has been said above, let us accept that we must not be afraid and that it is a good thing not to be afraid. But in that case,

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