Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.
John RuskinRead
Nearly all the evils in the Church have arisen from bishops desiring power more than light. They want authority, not outlook.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques the pursuit of power over understanding within religious institutions.
John Ruskin highlights a fundamental issue within the Church, suggesting that the desire for authority among bishops often overshadows their pursuit of wisdom and enlightenment. This prioritization of power leads to various evils and corruption within the institution, indicating that true leadership should be based on insight and moral clarity rather than the mere exertion of control.
Themes
PowerAuthorityChurchWisdomCorruption
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about ethical leadership, this quote can be used to highlight the importance of integrity.
More from John Ruskin
All quotes βIn health of mind and body, men should see with their own eyes, hear and speak without trumpets, walk on their feet, not on wheels, and work and war with their arms, not with engine-beams, nor rifles warranted to kill twenty men at a shot before you can see them.
John RuskinRead
You talk of the scythe of Time, and the tooth of Time: I tell you, Time is scytheless and toothless; it is we who gnaw like the worm - we who smite like the scythe. It is ourselves who abolish - ourselves who consume: we are the mildew, and the flame.
John RuskinRead
To be able to ask a question clearly is two-thirds of the way to getting it answered.
John RuskinRead
See that your children be taught, not only the labors of the earth, but the loveliness of it.
John RuskinRead
A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money.
John RuskinRead
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I never yet heard man or woman much abused that I was not inclined to think the better of them, and to transfer the suspicion or dislike to the one who found pleasure in pointing out the defects of another.
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In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread.
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This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a dance. A lifetime is like a flash of lightning in the sky, Rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain.
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When you truly accept that those children in some far off place in the global village have the same value as you in God's eyes or even in just your eyes, then your life is forever changed; you see something that you can't un-see.
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