770 Quotes by John Ruskin

Now the basest thought possible concerning man is, that he has no spiritual nature; and the foolishest misunderstanding of him possible is, that he has, or should have, no animal nature. For his nature is nobly animal, nobly spiritual,--coherently and irrevocably so; neither part of it may, but at its peril, expel, despise, or defy the other.

The question is not what man can scorn, or disparage, or find fault with, but what he can love, and value, and appreciate.

Society has sacrificed its virtues to the Goddess of Getting Along.

See that your children be taught, not only the labors of the earth, but the loveliness of it.

If you want knowledge, you must toil for it; if food, you must toil for it; and if pleasure, you must toil for it: toil is the law.

Reverence is the chief joy and power of life - reverence for that which is pure and bright in youth; for what is true and tried in age; for all that is gracious among the living, great among the dead, - and marvelous in the powers that cannot die

"Taste is not only a part and index of morality, it is the only morality. The first, and last, and closest trial question to any living creature is "What do you like?" Tell me what you like, I'll tell you what you are."

Shadows are in reality, when the sun is shining, the most conspicuous thing in a landscape, next to the highest lights.

People cannot live by lending money to one another.