The sea is calm tonight. The tide is full, the moon lies fair Upon the straits;- on the French coast the light Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand, glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Matthew ArnoldRead
Not a having and a resting, but a growing and becoming, is the character of perfection as culture conceives it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Perfection is not about achieving a static state, but about continuous growth and development.
This quote by Matthew Arnold emphasizes that true perfection is not merely a destination to reach or a status to attain, but rather an ongoing process of growth and transformation. It suggests that culture perceives perfection as something dynamic, where individuals are always evolving and striving to become better versions of themselves, rather than simply resting on their laurels once they achieve a certain level of success or mastery.
Themes
PerfectionGrowthDevelopmentCultureBecoming
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can inspire students during a graduation speech, emphasizing lifelong learning.
More from Matthew Arnold
All quotes βAnd each day brings it's pretty dust, Our soon-choked souls to fll And we forget because we must, And not because we will.
Matthew ArnoldRead
It is almost impossible to exaggerate the proneness of the human mind to take miracles as evidence, and to seek for miracles as evidence.
Matthew ArnoldRead
To have the sense of creative activity is the great happiness and the great proof of being alive.
Matthew ArnoldRead
Nature, with equal mind, Sees all her sons at play, Sees man control the wind, The wind sweep man away.
Matthew ArnoldRead
Culture, the acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world, and thus with the history of the human spirit.
Matthew ArnoldRead
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I hear therefore with joy whatever is beginning to be said of the dignity and necessity of labor to every citizen. There is virtue yet in the hoe and the spade, for learned as well as for unlearned hands. And labor is everywhere welcome; always we are invited to work; only be this limitation observed, that a man shall not for the sake of wider activity sacrifice any opinion to the popular judgments and modes of action.
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