Word info

negative capability

Noun

Meaning

negative capability (countable and uncountable, plural negative capabilities)

The ability to accept uncertainty and contradiction without needing to resolve the conflict.

Source: en.wiktionary.org

Examples

All my early books are written as if I were Indian. In England, I had started writing as if I were English; now I write as if I were American. You take other peoples backgrounds and characters; Keats called it negative capability. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

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