NOT, I’ll not, carrion comfort, Despair, not feast on thee; Not untwist—slack they may be—these last strands of man In me ór, most weary, cry I can no more. I can; Can something, hope, wish day come, not choose not to be.
Gerard Manley HopkinsRead
By the by, if the English race had done nothing else, yet if they left the world the notion of a gentleman, they would have done a great service to mankind.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that the concept of a gentleman is a significant contribution of the English culture to humanity.
Gerard Manley Hopkins emphasizes the importance of the idea of a gentleman in society, arguing that even if the English people achieved nothing else, this notion alone would be a remarkable contribution to the world. The idea of a gentleman embodies qualities such as respect, honor, and moral integrity, which can positively influence social interactions and elevate societal standards.
Themes
GentlemanEnglishContributionCultureSociety
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about cultural values, you could use this quote to highlight the significance of character.
More from Gerard Manley Hopkins
All quotes →And for all this, nature is never spent; There lives the dearest freshness deep down things; And though the last lights off the black West went Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs— Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
Gerard Manley HopkinsRead
Look at the stars! Look, look up at the skies! Oh look at all the fire-folk sitting in the air! The bright boroughs, the circle-citadels there!
Gerard Manley HopkinsRead
Let Him easter in us, be a dayspring to the dimness of us, be a crimson-cresseted east.
Gerard Manley HopkinsRead
Birds buildbut not I build; no, but strain, Time's eunuch, and not breed one work that wakes. Mine,O thou lord of life, send my roots rain.
Gerard Manley HopkinsRead
Nothing is so beautiful as spring - when weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush; Thrush's eggs look little low heavens, and thrush through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring the ear, it strikes like lightning to hear him sing.
Gerard Manley HopkinsRead
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