The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.
Thomas CarlyleRead
A force as of madness in the hands of reason has done all that was ever done in the world.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that passionate and irrational actions driven by reason have significantly influenced the course of history.
Thomas Carlyle's quote reflects the idea that great accomplishments and significant changes in the world often arise from a blend of intense passion, sometimes bordering on madness, combined with rational thought. It warns that pure reason alone may not drive extraordinary achievements, and that the fervor of human emotion can be a powerful catalyst for action, shaping history and society.
Themes
MadnessReasonForceHistoryPassion
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a motivational speech about the importance of taking bold actions.
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All quotes βThirty millions, mostly fools.
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There is a great discovery still to be made in literature, that of paying literary men by the quantity they do not write.
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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.
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Enjoying things which are pleasant; that is not the evil; it is the reducing of our moral self to slavery by them that is.
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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.
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