Virtue isn't not wronging others but not wishing to wrong others.
DemocritusRead
Beautiful objects are wrought by study through effort, but ugly things are reaped automatically without toil.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Creating beauty requires conscious effort, while ugliness can occur naturally without any work.
This quote by Democritus underscores the importance of dedication and hard work in the pursuit of beauty and quality. It suggests that while beautiful creations stem from thoughtful study and diligent effort, the opposite—ugliness and disorder—can arise effortlessly, highlighting the value of intentionality in our endeavors.
Themes
BeautyEffortStudyCreationUgliness
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about creativity, one might say, 'As Democritus wisely noted, beautiful objects are wrought by study through effort.'
More from Democritus
All quotes →One should practice much sense, not much learning.
DemocritusRead
Nature and education are somewhat similar. The latter transforms man, and in so doing creates a second nature.
DemocritusRead
It is godlike ever to think on something beautiful and on something new.
DemocritusRead
If thou suffer injustice, console thyself; the true unhappiness is in doing it.
DemocritusRead
The wrongdoer is more unfortunate than the man wronged.
DemocritusRead
Similar quotes
I'm still there, watching those possessed children, as far away from the mystery now as I was then. I've never written, though I thought I wrote, never loved, though I thought I loved, never done anything but wait outside the closed door.
Marguerite DurasRead
Perhaps the most significant moral characteristic of a nation is its hypocrisy.
Reinhold NiebuhrRead
Who taught me that animals were put on this Earth for food? Who taught me to disrespect animals and view them as mere commodities? Who stole my compassion, my empathy and my conscience? Who lied to me? Who instilled this vicious mindset of human-to-animal exploitation as standard operating procedure?
Gary YourofskyRead
I take a grave view of the press. It is the weak slat under the bed of democracy
A. J. LieblingRead
When a daffadill I see, Hanging down his head towards me, Guess I may, what I must be: First, I shall decline my head; Secondly, I shall be dead: Lastly, safely buryed.
Robert HerrickRead
There has never been a time in which I have been convinced from within myself that I am alive. You see, I have only such a fugitive awareness of things around me that I always feel they were once real and are now fleeting away. I have a constant longing, my dear sir, to catch a glimpse of things as they may have been before they show themselves to me.
Franz KafkaRead