Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.
John RuskinRead
Without seeking, truth cannot be known at all. It can neither be declared from pulpits, nor set down in articles, nor in any wise prepared and sold in packages ready for use. Truth must be ground for every man by itself out of it such, with such help as he can get, indeed, but not without stern labor of his own.
Interpretation
Truth cannot be easily given; it requires personal effort and diligence to discover.
This quote by John Ruskin emphasizes that truth is not something that can be handed down or packaged for easy consumption; instead, it must be actively sought and worked for by each individual. The process of seeking truth involves personal effort, introspection, and sometimes struggle, suggesting that the journey to understanding is as important as the knowledge itself.
In practice
In a debate about morality, one could use this quote to emphasize the necessity of personal reflection in understanding ethical truths.
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.
By becoming a conscious choice-maker, you begin to generate actions that are evolutionary for you.
Find ecstasy within yourself. It is not out there. It is in your innermost flowering. The one you are looking for is you.
You can't produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.
It is true that from a behavioral economics perspective we are fallible, easily confused, not that smart, and often irrational. We are more like Homer Simpson than Superman. So from this perspective it is rather depressing. But at the same time there is also a silver lining. There are free lunches!
Look behind you: What have you learned? Look around you: What is happening to others? Look above you: What does God expect of you? Look besides you: What resources are available to you?
Every burned book or house enlightens the world; every suppressed or expunged word reverberates through the earth from side to side.
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