The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.
Thomas CarlyleRead
The barrenest of all mortals is the sentimentalist.
Interpretation
Sentimentality without action or practicality results in emptiness.
In this quote, Thomas Carlyle suggests that those who are overly sentimental, embracing emotions and feelings without taking concrete actions, ultimately lead an unfulfilled existence. He emphasizes the importance of balancing sentiment with practicality, indicating that a deep emotional life must be complemented by meaningful engagement with the world.
In practice
In a discussion about the importance of balancing feelings with practical decisions.
The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.
Thirty millions, mostly fools.
There is a great discovery still to be made in literature, that of paying literary men by the quantity they do not write.
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.
Enjoying things which are pleasant; that is not the evil; it is the reducing of our moral self to slavery by them that is.
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.
Is not the beautiful moon, that inspires poets, the same moon which angers the silence of the sea with a terrible roar?
The Truth is far more all-encompassing than the mind could ever comprehend. No thought can encapsulate the Truth. At best, it can point to it. For example, it can say: "All things are intrinsically one (The Pearl of Great Price)." That is a pointer, not an explanation. Understanding these words means feeling deep within you the truth to which they point.
Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.
The more I love humanity in general, the less I love man in particular.
By means of beauty all beautiful things become beautiful.
The existence of the soldier, next to capital punishment, is the most grievous vestige of barbarism which survives among men.
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