The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.
The mystery of a person, indeed, is ever divine to him that has a sense for the godlike.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The complexity of a person is sacred and profound for those who appreciate the divine aspects of humanity.
This quote by Thomas Carlyle suggests that understanding a person's true essence or mystery is a divine experience, accessible only to those who possess a deeper sensitivity to the qualities that elevate humanity. It emphasizes the idea that the more profound a person is, the more they can inspire awe and reverence in others who appreciate the complexities of existence and the godlike nature within us all.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a personal development seminar, a speaker might use this quote to illustrate the importance of understanding the deeper aspects of oneself and others.
More from Thomas Carlyle
All quotes βThirty millions, mostly fools.
There is a great discovery still to be made in literature, that of paying literary men by the quantity they do not write.
For the superior morality, of which we hear so much, we too would desire to be thankful: at the same time, it were but blindness to deny that this superior morality is properly rather an inferior criminality, produced not by greater love of Virtue, but by greater perfection of Police; and of that far subtler and stronger Police, called Public Opinion.
Enjoying things which are pleasant; that is not the evil; it is the reducing of our moral self to slavery by them that is.
Clean undeniable right, clear undeniable might: either of these once ascertained puts an end to battle. All battle is a confused experiment to ascertain one and both of these.
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[P]erhaps you notice how the denial is so often the preface to the justification.
When the world smiles upon us, and we have got a warm nest, how do we prophesy of rest and peace in those acquisitions, thinking with good Baruch, great things for ourselves, but Providence by a particular or general calamity overturns our plans (Jer. 45:4,5), and all this to turn our hearts from the creature to God.
See, ma'am, frankly speaking this problem can't be solved by us police or military. The problem with these tribals is they don't understand greed. Unless they become greedy there's no hope for us. I have told my boss, remove the force and instead put a TV in every home. Everything will be automatically sorted out.
Those who have won the ovarian lottery by being born in an advanced society to loving parents have a special obligation to help restore the American Dream.
A lifelong intimacy with animals has got me out of the common notion that they are automata with a slight infusion of intelligence in their composition. The mind in beast and bird, as in man, is the main thing.
As I go clowning my sentimental way into eternity, wrestling with all my problems of estrangement and communion, sincerity and simulation, ambition and acquiescence, I shuttle between worrying whether I matter at all and whether anything else matters but me.