Quotes of the day

[Brandon Whitmore]

http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/John_Ruskin/

[Brian G]

There's some very good stuff in there. This one would serve well as the Katen/Jowers/TIJ report writing credo:

"Say all you have to say in the fewest possible words, or your reader will be sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words or he will certainly misunderstand them."

I also like the one about the man who buys according to price alone.

Brian G.

Well Said Mr. Ruskin [:-thumbu]

[randynavarro]

Cool stuff. This one's also appropriate.

"In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: They must be fit for it. They must not do too much of it. And they must have a sense of success in it."

[Richard Moore]

My favorite...

"When a man is wrapped up in himself, he makes a pretty small package."

[Jim Katen]

Those are all perceptive and elightening quotations. I particularly like this one, though it's horribly out of fashion these days:

The highest reward for man's toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it.

I get the sense that Ruskin was probably a pretty tedious fellow.

I imagine people crossed to the other side of the street when they saw him coming.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[kurt]

Since other folks commented, I'll allow as to how I've been an avid researcher on Ruskin, and the times he lived in, for years.

My original fascination was in Ruskins befriending, and supporting to great effect, JMW Turner. Turner, master of masters, was a "rebel" in the world of art, and w/Ruskins continued writings, Turner finally found acceptance.

If one studies Turner, they can see the formation & groundwork for what became the Impressionist movement, and the modern use of color, light, and form in painting. What we now view as one of the greatest art movements in history had it's early support in Ruskin.

Of course, Ruskin was a nut. He thoroughly trashed Michaelangelo on multiple occasions for his scandalous nudes, and it is thought that he destroyed much of Turners sketches and watercolors that he deemed "pornographic".

The fellow then turned to political and economic writings, much of which is shown in the quotes. The man is brilliant. I've structured much of my life on several of these quotes, particularly about work, and how it shapes the man.

[randynavarro]

I recognized many of those quotes in one form or another. It's good to learn from where they come. Cool stuff, Kurt (and Brandon.)

I've produced a fair amount in my life thus far, but it's been mostly with my hands and my back; not much with my brains.

I'm a bit more inspired now to learn more about some of these great thinkers and writers. I don't know why, but I'm somehow drawn toward Mark Twain. . . .