Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

John Ruskin Author

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: England
  • Born: Feb 8, 1819
  • Died: Jan 20, 1900

John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political economy. His writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. Ruskin penned essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy tale. The elaborate style that characterised his earliest writing on art was later superseded by a preference for plainer language designed to communicate his ideas more effectively. In all of his writing, he emphasised the connections between nature, art and society. He also made detailed sketches and paintings of rocks, plants, birds, landscapes, and architectural structures and ornamentation.

He was hugely influential in the latter half of the 19th century, and up to the First World War. After a period of relative decline, his reputation has steadily improved since the 1960s with the publication of numerous academic studies of his work.

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. nature & poetry

You might sooner get lightning out of incense smoke than true action or passion out of your modern English religion. religion

All that we call ideal in Greek or any other art, because to us it is false and visionary, was, to the makers of it, true and existent. art

No person who is not a great sculptor or painter can be an architect. If he is not a sculptor or painter, he can only be a builder. great

Doing is the great thing, for if people resolutely do what is right, they come in time to like doing it. great

No human being, however great, or powerful, was ever so free as a fish. great

Better the rudest work that tells a story or records a fact, than the richest without meaning. work

Men were not intended to work with the accuracy of tools, to be precise and perfect in all their actions. work

In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes. great

Art is not a study of positive reality, it is the seeking for ideal truth. art, positive & truth

The work of science is to substitute facts for appearances, and demonstrations for impressions. science & work

Give a little love to a child, and you get a great deal back. family, great & love

It seems a fantastic paradox, but it is nevertheless a most important truth, that no architecture can be truly noble which is not imperfect. architecture & truth

To make your children capable of honesty is the beginning of education. education

How long most people would look at the best book before they would give the price of a large turbot for it? best

The first condition of education is being able to put someone to wholesome and meaningful work. education & work

Modern education has devoted itself to the teaching of impudence, and then we complain that we can no longer control our mobs. education

Some slaves are scoured to their work by whips, others by their restlessness and ambition. work

No good is ever done to society by the pictorial representation of its diseases. society

It is in this power of saying everything, and yet saying nothing too plainly, that the perfection of art consists. art & power

Whether for life or death, do your own work well. death & work

Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty. beauty, patience & strength

The sky is the part of creation in which nature has done for the sake of pleasing man. nature

The strength and power of a country depends absolutely on the quantity of good men and women in it. men, power, strength & women

There is no wealth but life. life

All great art is the work of the whole living creature, body and soul, and chiefly of the soul. art, great & work

Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together. art

When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece. work

A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money. great & money

You may either win your peace or buy it: win it, by resistance to evil buy it, by compromise with evil. peace

He that would be angry and sin not, must not be angry with anything but sin. anger

Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts - the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art. art & great

All great and beautiful work has come of first gazing without shrinking into the darkness. great & work

The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world... to see clearly is poetry, prophecy and religion all in one. poetry & religion

The child who desires education will be bettered by it the child who dislikes it disgraced. education

No art can be noble which is incapable of expressing thought, and no art is capable of expressing thought which does not change. art & change

Men cannot not live by exchanging articles, but producing them. They live by work not trade. work

Music when healthy, is the teacher of perfect order, and when depraved, the teacher of perfect disorder. music & teacher

No architecture is so haughty as that which is simple. architecture

I believe the first test of a truly great man is in his humility. great

Every great person is always being helped by everybody for their gift is to get good out of all things and all persons. great

Skill is the unified force of experience, intellect and passion in their operation. experience

To see clearly is poetry, prophecy and religion all in one. poetry & religion

A great thing can only be done by a great person and they do it without effort. great

Education is the leading of human souls to what is best, and making what is best out of them. best & education

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