Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.
John RuskinRead
Education is the leading human souls to what is best, and making what is best out of them; and these two objects are always attainable together, and by the same means; the training which makes man happiest in themselves also makes them most serviceable to others.
Interpretation
Education leads individuals to realize their potential and serve others, fostering happiness and usefulness.
John Ruskin's quote emphasizes the dual purpose of education: to cultivate the best qualities in individuals while simultaneously preparing them to contribute positively to society. He suggests that true education not only enhances personal happiness but also equips individuals to be of service to others, asserting that these goals can be achieved together through proper training and development.
In practice
In a graduation speech, I quoted Ruskin to emphasize the value of education in personal and societal happiness.
Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.
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.
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.
To be able to ask a question clearly is two-thirds of the way to getting it answered.
See that your children be taught, not only the labors of the earth, but the loveliness of it.
A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money.
There is considerable evidence that women's education and literacy tend to reduce the mortality rates of children
I've been at this for 40 years. And, as an academic, I've been content with relatively small audiences, with the thought that the audience I long for will find its way eventually to what I have written, provided that what I have written is good enough.
I had a lot of really terrible advice early in my writing career, and I cheesed off people without even knowing it, all the while thinking I was implementing good advice. Well, what can you do about it? Next.
What you have been taught by listening to others' words you will forget very quickly; what you have learned with your whole body you will remember for the rest of your life.
One's work may be finished someday, but one's education never.
History is admirably dangerous. It is not the soft option. Teachers need to be grown up and brave. Sensitivity is fine, but it stops at the door of honest narrative.
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