It seems a fantastic paradox, but it is nevertheless a most important truth, that no architecture can be truly noble which is not imperfect. – John Ruskin
We require from buildings two kinds of goodness: first, the doing their practical duty well: then that they be graceful and pleasing in doing it. – John Ruskin
It is impossible, as impossible as to raise the dead, to restore anything that has ever been great or beautiful in architecture. That which I have insisted upon as the life of the whole, that spirit which is given only by the hand and eye of the workman, can never be recalled. – John Ruskin
He that would be angry and sin not, must not be angry with anything but sin. – John Ruskin
Nearly all the powerful people of this age are unbelievers, the best of them in doubt and misery, the most in plodding hesitation, doing as well as they can, what practical work lies at hand. – John Ruskin
No lying knight or lying priest ever prospered in any age, but especially not in the dark ones. Men prospered then only in following an openly declared purpose, and preaching candidly beloved and trusted creeds. – John Ruskin
To be able to ask a question clearly is two-thirds of the way to getting it answered. – John Ruskin
It is written on the arched sky; it looks out from every star. It is the poetry of Nature; it is that which uplifts the spirit within us. – John Ruskin
The sky is the part of creation in which nature has done for the sake of pleasing man. – John Ruskin
There is no wealth but life. – John Ruskin
There is a working class – strong and happy – among both rich and poor: there is an idle class – weak, wicked, and miserable – among both rich and poor. – John Ruskin
Cheerfulness is as natural to the heart of a man in strong health, as color to his cheek; and wherever there is habitual gloom, there must be either bad air, unwholesome food, improperly severe labor, or erring habits of life. – John Ruskin
As long as there are cold and nakedness in the land around you, so long can there be no question at all but that splendor of dress is a crime. – John Ruskin
Bread of flour is good; but there is bread, sweet as honey, if we would eat it, in a good book. – John Ruskin
Beauty deprived of its proper foils and adjuncts ceases to be enjoyed as beauty, just as light deprived of all shadows ceases to be enjoyed as light. – John Ruskin
Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together. – John Ruskin
Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity. – John Ruskin
