The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.
Thomas CarlyleRead
Not our Logical, Mensurative faculty, but our Imaginative one is King over us; I might say, Priest and Prophet to lead us heavenward; or Magician and Wizard to lead us hellward.
Interpretation
Imagination guides human behavior and destiny more than logic.
In this quote, Thomas Carlyle asserts that it is not our rational and measurable thought processes that predominantly dictate our lives, but rather our imagination. He suggests that imagination can elevate us towards nobility and purpose, or conversely lead us astray into chaos and despair, emphasizing its powerful role in shaping our journeys and ideologies.
In practice
In a motivational speech to highlight the importance of creativity in solving problems.
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.
My words are the garment of what I shall never be Like the tucked sleeve of a one-armed boy.
God made Truth with many doors to welcome every believer who knocks on them.
Do good to the people for the sake of God or for the peace of your own soul that you may always see what is pure and save your Heart from the darkness of hate
We judge individual man and women as we do nations and races -- by the character of their achievement and by their achievement of character.
As one whose husband and mother-in-law have died the victims of murder and assassination, I stand firmly and unequivocally opposed to the death penalty for those convicted of capital offenses. An evil deed is not redeemed by an evil deed of retaliation. Justice is never advanced in the taking of a human life. Morality is never upheld by a legalized murder.
When we reach the outer limit of what Scripture says, it is time to stop arguing and start worshipping.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.