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 only happiness a brave person ever troubles themselves in asking about, is happiness enough to get their work done.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True happiness for a courageous person is finding the joy necessary to fulfill their responsibilities.
In this quote, Thomas Carlyle suggests that brave individuals focus on a practical form of happiness that enables them to accomplish their tasks. Rather than seeking joy for its own sake, they consider happiness as a vital resource that empowers them to take on challenges and complete their work effectively, implying that a meaningful life is one where joy fuels productivity and courage in facing life's demands.
Themes
HappinessBraveryWorkSuccessResponsibility
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about resilience, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of finding joy in one's work.
More from Thomas Carlyle
All quotes →Thirty millions, mostly fools.
Thomas CarlyleRead
There is a great discovery still to be made in literature, that of paying literary men by the quantity they do not write.
Thomas CarlyleRead
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.
Thomas CarlyleRead
Enjoying things which are pleasant; that is not the evil; it is the reducing of our moral self to slavery by them that is.
Thomas CarlyleRead
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.
Thomas CarlyleRead
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