Let none admire that riches grow in hell; that soil may best deserve the precious bane.
Interpretation
Wealth can arise from undesirable circumstances, but it may not be truly valuable.
In this quote, John Milton suggests that riches can emerge even from the most unwholesome environments, implying that wealth derived from corruption or suffering lacks true worth. The phrase 'precious bane' encapsulates the idea that while such riches may be valued by some, they ultimately bring harm and do not foster genuine prosperity or happiness.
In practice
In a discussion about the ethics of wealth accumulation, one might reference this quote to highlight the moral implications of gaining riches from unethical means.
They, looking back, all the eastern side beheld Of Paradise, so late their happy seat, Waved over by that flaming brand, the gate With dreadful faces thronged and fiery arms: Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon; The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide; They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow, Through Eden took their solitary way.
The stars, that nature hung in heaven, and filled their lamps with everlasting oil, give due light to the misled and lonely traveller.
Ev'n them who kept thy truth so pure of old, When all our fathers worshipp'd stocks and stones.
Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is and saw Virtue in her shape how lovely: and pined his loss
The end of all learning is to know God, and out of that knowledge to love and imitate Him.
Apt words have power to suage the tumors of a troubled mind.
The feelings that hurt most, the emotions that sting most, are those that are absurd - The longing for impossible things, precisely because they are impossible; nostalgia for what never was; the desire for what could have been; regret over not being someone else; dissatisfaction with the world’s existence. All these half-tones of the soul’s consciousness create in us a painful landscape, an eternal sunset of what we are.
Fate, then, is a name for facts not yet passed under the fire of thought; for causes which are unpenetrated.
There is no polite way to say that business is destroying the world.
Liberty without virtue would be no blessing to us.
To those who does not know the world is on fire, I have nothing to say.
Under the all-encompassing aid system, too many places in Africa continue to flounder under inept, corrupt and despotic regimes who spend their time courting and catering to the demands of the army of aid organizations.
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