Everybody who has studied mathematics knows how many shadowy difficulties he seemed to have before he understood the problem, and how impossible it was when once the demonstration had flashed upon him, ever to comprehend those indistinct difficulties again, or to call up the mental confusion, that admitted them.
This quote uses a mathematical analogy to illustrate the clarity that comes with understanding, contrasting it with the confusion of initial learning.
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More from Walter Bagehot
And therefore party is inherent in it, is bone of its bone, and breath of its breath.
The whole history of civilisation, is strewn with creeds and institutions which were invaluable at first, and deadly afterwards.
Perhaps such powers as these are what a wise man would most seek to exercise and least fear to possess.
They are solely concerned with his attractiveness as a candidate; they need not regard his efficiency as a ruler.
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