John Ruskin

Ruskin was the most powerful and influential critic of the nineteenth century. He wrote about nature, art, architecture, politics, history, myth and much besides. This new selection draws on the whole range of his output, including representative material from all his major works. The introduction outlines the development of his life and thought and shows why he remains such a rewarding writer today.

Selected Writings

shen

Hence it follows that the utmost power of art can only be given in a material capable of receiving and retaining the influence of the subtlest touch of the human hand.

For the first plain fact about myth-making is one which has been most strangely lost sight of,—that you cannot make a myth unless you have something to make it of. You cannot tell a secret which you don't know. If the myth is about the sky, it must have been made by somebody who looked at the sky. If myth is about justice and fortitude, it must have been made by some one who knew it was to be just or patient.

paradoxical view when paired with his own writing

The foam is not cruel, neither does it crawl. The state of mind which attributes it these characters of a living creature is one in which the reason is unhinged by grief. All violent feelings have the same effect. They produce in us a falseness in all our impressions of external things, which I would generally characterize as the ‘pathetic fallacy.’

“But through whatever changes it may pass, remember that our right reading of it is wholly dependent on the materials we have in our own minds for an intelligent answering sympathy.” / “[...] that we can only understand it so far as we have some perception of the same truth; [...]” / “Still, the difference between the great and less man is, on the whole, chiefly in this point of alterability.”

not always of the same opinion & ideas & thinking as ruskin but he delivers in his writing (with a tendency of going on a tirade, footnotes not excluded). thoroughly dogmatic at times, but so is the nature of criticism. selections are varied; some charming, some approached with reluctance. thoughtful, simultaneously dated & ahead

“But through whatever changes it may pass, remember that our right reading of it is wholly dependent on the materials we have in our own minds for an intelligent answering sympathy.” / “[...] that we can only understand it so far as we have some perception of the same truth; [...]” / “Still, the difference between the great and less man is, on the whole, chiefly in this point of alterability.”

not always of the same opinion & ideas & thinking as ruskin but he delivers in his writing (with a tendency of going on a tirade, footnotes not excluded). thoroughly dogmatic at times, but so is the nature of criticism. selections are varied; some charming, some approached with reluctance. thoughtful, simultaneously dated & ahead

Selected Writings

Reviews

Highlights