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John Ruskin Quotes about Life

All John Ruskin 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 quotes 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

The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.

The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.

Inspirational, Life, Motivational

The best thing in life aren't things.

Life, Best Things, Values

It is advisable that a person know at least three things, where they are, where they are going, and what they had best do under the circumstances.

Life, Three, Circumstances

He who can take no interest in what is small will take false interest in what is great.

Life, Trust, Interest

John Ruskin (1848). “Modern Painters”, p.319

Every noble life leaves the fibre of it interwoven forever in the work of the world.

Life, Forever, Noble

"Pearls for Young Ladies".

Without seeking, truth cannot be known at all. It can neither be declared from pulpits, nor set down in articles, nor in any wise prepared and sold in packages ready for use. Truth must be ground for every man by itself out of it such, with such help as he can get, indeed, but not without stern labor of his own.

Inspirational, Life, Wise

Life being very short, and the quiet hours of it few, we ought to waste none of them in reading valueless books.

Life, Book, Reading

Sesame and Lilies preface (1865)

There is no wealth but life.

Life, Wisdom, Wealth

'Unto this Last' (1862) essay 4, 77

Trust thou thy Love: if she be proud, is she not sweet? Trust thou thy love: if she be mute, is she not pure? Lay thou thy soul full in her hands, low at her feet- Fail, Sun and Breath!-yet, for thy peace, she shall endure.

Life, Sweet, Hands

John Ruskin (1903). “The Works of John Ruskin”

Being thus prepared for us in all ways, and made beautiful, and good for food, and for building, and for instruments of our hands, this race of plants, deserving boundless affection and admiration from us, becomes, in proportion to their obtaining it, a nearly perfect test of our being in right temper of mind and way of life; so that no one can be far wrong in either who loves trees enough, and everyone is assuredly wrong in both who does not love them, if his life has brought them in his way.

Life, Beautiful, Race

John Ruskin (1873). “Pt. 6-9 of leaf beauty. of cloud beauty. of ideas of relation”, p.4

Life without industry is guilt, and industry without art is brutality.

Life, Art, Political

"Lectures on Art: Delivered Before the University of Oxford in Hilary Term, 1870".

Government and cooperation are in all things the laws of life. Anarchy and competition, the laws of death.

Life, Death, Law

Unto This Last Essay 3 (1862)

Life is a magic vase filled to the brim, so made that you cannot dip from it nor draw from it; but it overflows into the hand that drops treasures into it. Drop in malice and it overflows hate; drop in charity and it overflows love.

Life, Hate, Hands

All things are literally better, lovelier, and more beloved for the imperfections which have been divinely appointed, that the law of human life may be effort, and the law of human judgment, mercy.

Life, Mistake, Errors

John Ruskin (1867). “The Stones of Venice”, p.171

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

Cheerfulness is as natural to the heart of a man in strong health as color to his cheek; and wherever there is habitual gloom there must be either bad air, unwholesome food, improperly severe labor, or erring habits of life.

Life, Happiness, Strong

John Ruskin (1868). “pt. V: Of mountain beauty”, p.328

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