Thirty millions, mostly fools.
Thomas CarlyleRead
The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.
Interpretation
A good person's contributions are often unnoticed but essential for growth and nourishment.
This quote by Thomas Carlyle emphasizes the importance of the selfless acts performed by individuals who may not seek recognition. Just like an underground vein of water nourishes the soil without being seen, the hidden efforts of good people sustain and enhance the well-being of the community, illustrating that the impact of such kindness is profound yet often goes unacknowledged.
In practice
During a speech on community service, you can quote this to inspire others to recognize the value of hidden acts of kindness.
Thirty millions, mostly fools.
There is a great discovery still to be made in literature, that of paying literary men by the quantity they do not write.
For the superior morality, of which we hear so much, we too would desire to be thankful: at the same time, it were but blindness to deny that this superior morality is properly rather an inferior criminality, produced not by greater love of Virtue, but by greater perfection of Police; and of that far subtler and stronger Police, called Public Opinion.
Enjoying things which are pleasant; that is not the evil; it is the reducing of our moral self to slavery by them that is.
Clean undeniable right, clear undeniable might: either of these once ascertained puts an end to battle. All battle is a confused experiment to ascertain one and both of these.
Philosophy dwells aloft in the Temple of Science, the divinity of its inmost shrine; her dictates descend among men, but she herself descends not : whoso would behold her must climb with long and laborious effort, nay, still linger in the forecourt, till manifold trial have proved him worthy of admission into the interior solemnities.
When I see someone like Richard Dawkins, I see my father. I grew up with that. I'm basically the child of Richard Dawkins.
The angry man wishes the object of his anger to suffer in return; hatred wishes its object not to exist.
There are, above all, times in which the human reality, always mobile, accelerates, and bursts into vertiginous speeds. Our time is such a one, for it is made of descent and fall.
In every age, people are certain that only the things they have deemed valuable have true value. The search for love and the search for wealth are always the two best stories. But while a love story is timeless, the story of a quest for wealth, given enough time, will always seem like the vain pursuit of a mirage.
In cases of major discrepancy its always reality thats got it wrong ... reality is frequently inaccurate.
I like the stars. It's the illusion of permanence, I think. I mean, they're always flaring up and caving in and going out. But from here, I can pretend...I can pretend that things last. I can pretend that lives last longer than moments. Gods come, and gods go. Mortals flicker and flash and fade. Worlds don't last; and stars and galaxies are transient, fleeting things that twinkle like fireflies and vanish into cold and dust. But I can pretend.
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