Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.
John RuskinRead
Punishment is the last and the least effective instrument in the hands of the legislator for the prevention of crime.
Interpretation
Punishment alone is ineffective for preventing crime; it should not be a legislator's primary tool.
John Ruskin's quote emphasizes that relying solely on punishment as a means to deter crime is not only ineffective but also a last resort. Instead, it advocates for more constructive and proactive approaches to addressing the root causes of criminal behavior, suggesting that understanding and reform may lead to a more just society.
In practice
In a discussion about criminal justice reform, one could reference this quote to argue for more rehabilitative measures.
Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.
In 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.
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.
To be able to ask a question clearly is two-thirds of the way to getting it answered.
See that your children be taught, not only the labors of the earth, but the loveliness of it.
A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money.
I am resolved that I will not through humility become the devil's attorney. I will endeavor to speak a good word for the truth.
In a healthy, normal society, people can disagree with one another, even have diametrically opposing views, and this does not at all mean that they must hate one another. The Polish authorities, however, have made the division of Poles their primary task.
I can't imagine myself outside any kind of social or political involvement. Yes, I'm a writer, but I live in this world, and my writing doesn't exist on a separate level. And if people know who I am and read my books, well, good; that way, if I have something more to say, then everyone benefits.
Do not neglect this body. This is the house of God; take care of it, only in this body can God be realized.
Christian salvation consists in works. To be saved is to be made holy. To be saved requires our being made part of a people separated from the world so that we can be united in spite of - or perhaps better, because of - the world's fragmentation and divisions.
The dual substance of Christ - the yearning, so human, so superhuman, of man to attain God. [...] has always been a deep inscrutable mystery to me. [...] My principle anguish and source of all my joys and sorrows from my youth onward has been the incessant, merciless battle between the spirit and the flesh. [...] And my soul is the arena where these two armies have clashed and met.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.