Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.
John RuskinRead
In health of mind and body, men should see with their own eyes, hear and speak without trumpets, walk on their feet, not on wheels, and work and war with their arms, not with engine-beams, nor rifles warranted to kill twenty men at a shot before you can see them.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of experiencing life directly and authentically, without reliance on technology or tools.
John Ruskin's quote highlights the value of engaging with the world in a mindful and direct way, advocating for personal involvement and authenticity over mechanical or abstract substitutes. It suggests that true understanding and action come from personal experience, urging individuals to rely on their own senses and capabilities rather than detaching themselves through technology or machinery.
In practice
In a motivational speech about personal growth, one could use this quote to encourage individuals to engage with their surroundings.
Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.
You talk of the scythe of Time, and the tooth of Time: I tell you, Time is scytheless and toothless; it is we who gnaw like the worm - we who smite like the scythe. It is ourselves who abolish - ourselves who consume: we are the mildew, and the flame.
To be able to ask a question clearly is two-thirds of the way to getting it answered.
See that your children be taught, not only the labors of the earth, but the loveliness of it.
A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money.
When men do not love their hearth, nor reverence their thresholds, it is a sign that they have dishonoured both ... Our God is a house-hold God, as well as a heavenly one; He has an altar in every man's dwelling.
Resignation was the defining condition of Soviet life.
To get up in the morning, wash and then wait for some unforeseen variety of dread or depression. I would give the whole universe and all of Shakespeare for a grain of ataraxy.
An existence transfigured by failure.
Punctuality is the virtue of the bored.
If you find yourself loving any pleasure more than your prayers, any book better than the Bible, any house better than the house of the Lord, any table better than the Lord's table, any persons better than Christ, or any indulgence better than the hope of heaven β be alarmed.
It is indolence... Indolence and love of ease; a want of all laudable ambition, of taste for good company, or of inclination to take the trouble of being agreeable, which make men clergymen. A clergyman has nothing to do but be slovenly and selfish; read the newspaper, watch the weather, and quarrel with his wife. His curate does all the work and the business of his own life is to dine.
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