Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.
John RuskinRead
All violent feelings have the same effect. They produce in us a falseness in all our impressions of external things, which I would generally characterize as the pathetic fallacy.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Violent feelings distort our perceptions of reality, leading to false impressions.
In this quote, John Ruskin suggests that intense and violent emotions can cloud our judgment and understanding of the world around us. This distortion of perception is what he refers to as 'pathetic fallacy,' a term that describes the attribution of human emotions to nature or inanimate objects. Essentially, when we are consumed by such feelings, our interpretations of our environment become tainted, failing to reflect true reality.
Themes
EmotionsPerceptionViolenceTruthReality
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about how emotions impact decision-making, this quote could be used to highlight the importance of managing feelings.
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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