Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.
John RuskinRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Time is not the enemy; our own actions and choices determine our fate.
This quote by John Ruskin emphasizes that time is not inherently destructive; rather, it is our own behaviors and decisions that lead to deterioration and change. By comparing ourselves to a worm and a scythe, Ruskin suggests that we are the agents of our own consumption and transformation, emphasizing personal responsibility in the passage of time and our existence.
Themes
TimeSelfResponsibilityChangeExistence
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker at a personal development seminar could use this quote to highlight the importance of self-awareness.
More from John Ruskin
All quotes →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.
John RuskinRead
To be able to ask a question clearly is two-thirds of the way to getting it answered.
John RuskinRead
See that your children be taught, not only the labors of the earth, but the loveliness of it.
John RuskinRead
A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money.
John RuskinRead
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.
John RuskinRead
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