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John Ruskin

John Ruskin Quotes

Art critic

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Famous John Ruskin Quotes

“You must get into the habit of looking intensely at words, and assuring yourself of their meaning, syllable by syllable-nay, letter by letter... you might read all the books in the British Museum (if you could live long enough) and remain an utterly "illiterate," undeducated person; but if you read ten pages of a good book, letter by letter, - that is to say, with real accuracy- you are for evermore in some measure an educated person.”

IfsPersonsLongBookRealEnoughMightHabitTenPagesLettersBritishEducatedMuseumsGood BookAccuracyIlliterateSyllablesEvermoreEducated PersonBritish Museum
Book:The Genius of John Ruskin: Selections from His Writings
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“Another of the strange and evil tendencies of the present day is the decoration of the railroad station... There was never more flagrant nor impertinent folly than the smallest portion of ornament in anything connected with the railroads... Railroad architecture has or would have a dignity of its own if it were only left to its work.”

IfsEvilLeftStrangeDignityConnectedArchitectureTendenciesFollyStationsPortionsSmallestOrnamentsPresent DayRailroadsDecoration
Author:John Ruskin
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“No one can explain how the notes of a Mozart melody, or the folds of a piece of Titian's drapery, produce their essential effects. If you do not feel it, no one can by reasoning make you feel it.”

IfsFeelsPiecesEffectsProduceEssentialsNotesReasoningMelodyFolds
Book:Modern Painters ...: pt. 6. Of leaf beauty. pt. 7. Of cloud beauty. pt. 8-9. Of ideas of relation
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“The very cheapness of literature is making even wise people forget that if a book is worth reading, it is worth buying. No book is worth anything which is not worth much; nor is it serviceable, until it has been read, and re-read, and loved, and loved again; and marked, so that you can refer to the passages you want in it.”

PeopleIfsWantHas BeensBookReadingLiteratureForgetWiseBuyingPassagesWorth ReadingWise PeopleCheapness
Book:The Genius of John Ruskin: Selections from His Writings
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“I do not mean to call an elephant a vulgar animal, but if you think about him carefully, you will find that his nonvulgarity consists in such gentleness as is possible to elephantine nature-not in his insensitive hide, nor in his clumsy foot, but in the way he will lift his foot if a child lies in his way; and in his sensitive trunk, and still more sensitive mind, and capability of pique on points of honor.”

IfsThinkingWayMindMeanChildrenStillsLyingAnimalFeetHonorLiftsSensitiveCapabilityElephantsVulgarGentlenessTrunksClumsyInsensitivePique
Book:pt. VI: Of leaf beauty. pt. VII: Of cloud beauty. pts. VIII-IX: Of ideas of relation
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“... A power of obtaining veracity in the representation of material and tangible things, which, within certain limits and conditions, is unimpeachable, has now been placed in the hands of all men, almost without labour. (1853)”

MenHandsCertainConditionsMaterialsLimitsLabourRepresentationTangibleObtainingVeracity
Book:The stones of Venice (cont'd) Seven lamps of architecture. Lectures on architecture and painting, delivered at Edinburgh in Nov. 1853. An inquiry into some of the conditions at present affecting the study of architecture in our schools
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“In one point of view, Gothic is not only the best, but the only rational architecture, as being that which can fit itself most easily to all services, vulgar or noble.”

ViewsFitPoint Of ViewNobleArchitectureRationalVulgarGothic
Book:On the nature of Gothic architecture: and herein of the true functions of the workman in art. Being the greater part of the 6th chapter of the 2nd vol. of 'Stones of Venice'. [48 p.].
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“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.”

KindDifferentNatureEnvironmentWindRainSnowWeatherSunshineDifferent KindsRunnersDeliciousRainyExhilaratingRainy DayRefreshingNature BeautyWindyBracesInspirational NatureCross Country RunningNature And BeautyBad WeatherCold WeatherMotivational Cross Country RunningCross Country MotivationalWinter SnowBeing NaturalHappy SunshineWind And RainSummer RainRaining DayGood WeatherRainy WeatherCool WeatherInspirational RainRain And SnowMy SunshineHappy RainRains BeautyStormy WeatherSnow StormsFresh SnowGood Rain
Author:John Ruskin
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“Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort.”

InspirationalMotivationalChoicesInspiringResultsEffortBusinessQualityCommitmentEconomicsPerfectionIntelligentManagementExcellenceIntentionIntelligenceFocusedAccidentsProductivityImprovementAlternativesProductiveExecutionAssuranceManufacturingSkillfulHigh QualityPlannersBusiness PlanMaking ChoicesCraftsmanshipQuality EducationQuality TimeBusiness ManagementKaizenWorkmanshipEffort And Hard WorkQuality WorkBusiness PlanningQuality In BusinessGreat QualitiesCommitment In BusinessInspirational CommitmentPoor QualityQuality ManagementWise ChoicesQuality ServicePlanning For SuccessEffort And SuccessCommitment To ExcellenceAcademic ExcellenceQuality Not Quantity
Author:John Ruskin
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