The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.
Thomas CarlyleRead
Contented saturnine human figures, a dozen or so of them, sitting around a large long table...Perfect equality is to be the rule; no rising or notice taken when anybody enters or leaves. Let the entering man take his place and pipe, without obligatory remarks; if he cannot smoke...let him at least affect to do so, and not ruffle the established stream of things.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that social interactions should be egalitarian and unintrusive.
Thomas Carlyle's quote reflects on the concept of perfect equality in social gatherings, where individuals are expected to blend seamlessly into the group without drawing attention to themselves. By advocating for an environment where no one is singled out for entering or leaving, Carlyle highlights the importance of maintaining harmony and uniformity in social interactions, allowing individuals to coexist without hierarchy or disturbance.
Themes
EqualitySocialHarmonyInteractionsCommunity
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker at a community gathering expressing the importance of treating everyone equally.
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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.
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Enjoying things which are pleasant; that is not the evil; it is the reducing of our moral self to slavery by them that is.
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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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