Fors Clavigera (Volume 6 of 8): $b Letters to the workmen and labourers of Great BritainRuskin, John
General
Fors Clavigera (Volume 6 of 8): $b Letters to the workmen and labourers of Great Britain
Ruskin, John
Aesthetics; Conduct of life; Great Britain -- Social conditions -- 19th century; Social problems; Working class -- Great Britain
“Neither when a man holds himself not guilty of his own errors, nor the
cause of the most and the greatest evils that befall him [88]; but
holds others to be guilty of them, and himself guiltless,
always;—honouring his own soul, as it seems; but far away is he from
doing this, for he injures it; neither when he indulges it with
delights beyond the word and the praise of the Lawgiver [89];—then he
in nowise honours it, but disgraces, filling it with weaknesses and
repentances; neither when he does not toil through, and endure
patiently, the contraries of these pleasures, the divinely praised
Pains, and Fears, and Griefs, and Mournings, but yields under them;
then he does not honour it in yielding; but, in doing all these things,
accomplishes his soul in dishonour; neither (even if living honourably)
[90] when he thinks that life is wholly good, does he honour it, but
shames it, then also weakly allowing his soul in the thought that all
things in the invisible world are evil; and not resisting it, nor
teaching it that it does not know but that, so far from being evil, the
things that belong to the Gods of that world may be for us the best of
all things. Neither when we esteem beauty of body more than beauty of
soul, for nothing born of the Earth is more honourable than what is
born of Heaven; and he who thinks so of his soul knows not that he is
despising his marvellous possession: neither when one desires to obtain
money in any dishonourable way, or having so obtained it, is not
indignant and unhappy therefore—does he honour his soul with gifts; far
otherwise; he has given away the glory and honour of it for a spangle
of gold; and all the gold that is on the earth, and under the earth, is
not a price for virtue.”
That is as much of Plato’s opinions concerning the Psyche as I can
write out for you to-day; in next Fors, I may find you some parallel
ones of Carpaccio’s: meantime I have to correct a mistake in Fors,
which it will be great delight to all Amorites to discover; namely,
that the Princess, whom I judged to be industrious because she went on
working while she talked to her father about her marriage, cannot, on
this ground, be praised beyond Princesses in general; for, indeed, the
little mischief, instead of working, as I thought,—while her father is
leaning his head on his hand in the greatest distress at the thought of
parting with her,—is trying on her marriage ring!
NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE.
I. Affairs of the Company.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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