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John Ruskin Quotes - Page 13

All Quotes Age Ambition Anger Appearance Appreciation Architecture Art Atheism Beauty Business Change Character Charity Children Choices Christ Country Creation Darkness Death Design Desire Dignity Discipline Doubt Duty Education Effort Energy Evil Feelings Generosity Genius Giving God Greatness Happiness Hate Heart Heaven History Home Honesty Honor House Humanity Humility Hurt Idolatry Ignorance Imagination Imperfection Inspirational Intelligence Journey Judging Judgment Justice Kindness Knowledge Labor Labour Language Liberty Life Literature Love Lying Money Morality Morning Motivational Mountain Music Nature Obedience Pain Painting Passion Past Patience Peace Perfection Pleasure Politics Positive Power Praise Pride Progress Purity Purpose Quality Rain Reading Reality Religion Running Sacrifice School Science Simplicity Sin Slavery Sorrow Soul Success Teaching Time Truth Understanding Values Virtue Wall War Wealth Winning Wisdom Work Writing

It is written on the arched sky; it looks out from every star. It is the poetry of Nature; it is that which uplifts the spirit within us.

It is written on the arched sky; it looks out from every star. It is the poetry of Nature; it is that which uplifts the spirit within us.

Uplifting, Stars, Sky

The entire vitality of art depends upon its being either full of truth, or full of use; and that, however pleasant, wonderful, or impressive it may be in itself, it must yet be of inferior kind, and tend to deeper inferiority, unless it has clearly one of these main objects, either to state a true thing, or to adorn a serviceable one.

Art, Vitality, Use

John Ruskin (2012). “Selections From the Works of John Ruskin”, p.303, tredition

Imperfection is in some sort essential to all that we know of life. It is the sign of life in a mortal body, that is to say, of a state of progress and change. Nothing that lives is, or can be rigidly perfect; part of it is decaying, part nascent.

Progress And Change, Perfect, Essentials

John Ruskin (1854). “On the nature of Gothic architecture: and herein of the true functions of the workman in art. Being the greater part of the 6th chapter of the 2nd vol. of 'Stones of Venice'. [48 p.].”, p.14

No nation can last which has made a mob of itself, however generous at heart.

Heart, Lasts, Made

John Ruskin, John D. Rosenberg (1964). “The Genius of John Ruskin: Selections from His Writings”, p.305, University of Virginia Press

It is not, truly speaking, the labour that is divided; but the men: divided into mere segments of men - broken into small fragments and crumbs of life, so that all the little piece of intelligence that is left in a man is not enough to make a pin, or a nail, but exhausts itself in making the point of a pin or the head of a nail.

Life, Men, Broken

John Ruskin, John D. Rosenberg (1964). “The Genius of John Ruskin: Selections from His Writings”, p.180, University of Virginia Press

In my house there is no attempt whatever to secure harmonies of colour, or form, or furniture.... I am entirely independent for daily happiness upon the sensual qualities of form or colour-when I want them I take them either from the sky or from the fields.

Independent, Sky, House

A nation which lives a pastoral and innocent life never decorates the shepherd's staff or the plough-handle; but races who live by depredation and slaughter nearly always bestow exquisite ornaments on the quiver, the helmet, and the spear.

Race, Shepherds, Ornaments

John Ruskin (1859). “The two paths: being lectures on art, and its application to decoration and manufacture, delivered in 1858-9”, p.17

It takes a great deal of living to get a little deal of learning.

Wisdom, Teacher, Teaching

John Ruskin (1899*). “John Ruskin's Works”

An infinitude of tenderness is the chief gift and inheritance of all truly great men.

Inspirational, Men, Greatest Love

John Ruskin (1872). “The Two Paths: Being Lectures on Art, and Its Application to Decoration and Manufacture, Delivered in 1858-9”, p.38

No architecture is so haughty as that which is simple.

Simple, Architecture, Haughty

John Ruskin, John D. Rosenberg (1964). “The Genius of John Ruskin: Selections from His Writings”, p.195, University of Virginia Press

Freedom is only granted us that obedience may be more perfect.

Freedom, Perfect, May

That which seems to be wealth may in verity be only the gilded index of far reaching ruin

May, Ruins, Wealth

John Ruskin (2015). “Unto This Last”, p.253, John Ruskin

Geology does better in reclothing dry bones and revealing lost creations, than in tracing veins of lead and beds of iron; astronomy better in opening to us the houses of heaven than in teaching navigation; surgery better in investigating organiation than in setting limbs; only it is ordained that, for our encouragement, every step we make in science adds something to its practical applicabilities.

Encouragement, Teaching, Science

John Ruskin (1907). “The Religion of Ruskin: The Life and Works of John Ruskin; a Biographical and Anthological Study”

Value is the life-giving power of anything; cost, the quantity of labour required to produce it; its price, the quantity of labourwhich its possessor will take in exchange for it.

Giving, Cost, Produce

John Ruskin (2016). “The Crown of Wild Olive”, p.190, John Ruskin

The man who can see all gray, and red, and purples in a peach, will paint the peach rightly round, and rightly altogether. But the man who has only studied its roundness may not see its purples and grays, and if he does not will never get it to look like a peach; so that great power over color is always a sign of large general art-intellect.

Art, Men, Color

See! This our fathers did for us.

Father, Our Father

John Ruskin, John D. Rosenberg (1964). “The Genius of John Ruskin: Selections from His Writings”, p.132, University of Virginia Press

If you do not wish for His kingdom do not pray for it. But if you do you must do more than pray for it, you must work for it.

Work, Wish, Kingdoms

John Ruskin (2016). “The Crown of Wild Olive”, p.62, John Ruskin

Though you may have known clever men who were indolent, you never knew a great man who was so; and when I hear a young man spoken of as giving promise of great genius, the first question I ask about him always is, Does he work?

Clever, Work, Men

John Ruskin, Christine Roth (2004). “The Two Paths”, p.69, Parlor Press LLC

The highest thoughts are those which are least dependent on language, and the dignity of any composition and praise to which it is entitled are in exact proportion to its dependency of language or expression.

Expression, Dignity, Language

... no human actions ever were intended by the Maker of men to be guided by balances of expediency, but by balances of justice.

Men, Justice, Political

John Ruskin (1872). “"Unto this Last": Four Essays on the First Principles of Political Economy”, p.21

We have much studied and much perfected, of late, the great civilized invention of the division of labour; only we give it a false name. It is not, truly speaking, the labour that is divided; but the men.

Men, Names, Giving

John Ruskin, John D. Rosenberg (1964). “The Genius of John Ruskin: Selections from His Writings”, p.180, University of Virginia Press

And with respect to the mode in which these general principles affect the secure possession of property, so far am I from invalidating such security, that the whole gist of these papers will be found ultimately to aim at an extension in its range; and whereas it has long been known and declared that the poor have no right to the property of the rich, I wish it also to be known and declared that the rich have no right to the property of the poor.

Long, Wish, Principles

Unto This Last Essay 3 (1862)

That which is required in order to the attainment of accurate conclusions respecting the essence of the Beautiful is nothing morethan earnest, loving, and unselfish attention to our impressions of it.

Beauty, Beautiful, Order

John Ruskin (1848). “Modern Painters ...: pt. 3. Of the imaginative and theoretic faculties. 4th ed”, p.22

Society has sacrificed its virtues to the Goddess of Getting Along.

Goddess, Virtue, Getting Along

If there be any one principle more widely than another confessed by every utterance, or more sternly than another imprinted on every atom of the visible creation, that principle is not liberty, but law.

Law, Liberty, Principles

John Ruskin (1861). “Selections from the writings of John Ruskin ... With a portrait”, p.334

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