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 man who cannot wonder, who does not habitually wonder (and worship), were he President of innumerable Royal Societies, and carried the whole Mecanique Celeste and Hegel's Philosophy, and the epitome of all Laboratories and Observatories with their results, in his single head, is but a Pair of Spectacles behind which there is no Eye. Let those who have Eyes look through him, then he may be useful.
Interpretation
What this quote means
To truly understand and appreciate the world, one must maintain a sense of wonder and curiosity.
This quote by Thomas Carlyle highlights the importance of wonder and curiosity for a meaningful life. It suggests that intellectual knowledge alone, without the ability to appreciate and marvel at the world, renders a person incomplete and ineffective. The metaphor of being 'a Pair of Spectacles behind which there is no Eye' emphasizes that without genuine insight and appreciation, one may possess great knowledge yet remain incapable of true understanding or usefulness.
Themes
WonderCuriosityKnowledgeInsightPhilosophyAppreciation
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about the importance of lifelong learning and curiosity.
More from Thomas Carlyle
All quotes →Thirty 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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