John Ruskin Quotes

John Ruskin was a famous English writer, art critic, artist, poet, philosopher, essayist and polymath. He is best known for his “Modern Painters” writings and for championing the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood artists. Famous John Ruskin writings include “Modern Painters”, “The Seven Lamps of Architecture”, “Pre-Raphaelitism”, “Fors Clavigera: Letters to the Workmen and Labourers of Great Britain”, “The Stones of Venice”, “The King of the Golden River, or the Black Brothers. A Legend of Stiria”, and “The Poetry of Architecture”.

Mini biography: Born John Ruskin on the 8th of February, 1819 in London, England. His mother was Margaret Cock and his father John James Ruskin was a wine importer. Ruskin married Effie Gray in 1848 and they divorced in 1854. She then went on to marry the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood artist John Everett Millais. The writer died on the 20th of January, 1900 in Coniston, Lancashire, England at the age of 80. John Ruskin is buried at the St Andrew Churchyard, Coniston, South Lakeland District, Cumbria, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain.

List of Famous John Ruskin Quotes

What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do. John Ruskin

I have always found that the less we speak of our intentions, the more chance there is of our realizing them. John Ruskin

You were made for enjoyment, and the world was filled with things which you will enjoy, unless you are too proud to be pleased with them, or too grasping to care for what you cannot turn to other account than mere delight. Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless: peacocks and lilies, for instance. John Ruskin

There are three Venetians that are never separated in my mind — Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto. John Ruskin

In painting as in eloquence, the greater your strength, the quieter your manner. John Ruskin

Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty. John Ruskin

Of all God’s gifts to the sight of man, color is the holiest, the most divine, the most solemn. John Ruskin

He who has the truth at his heart need never fear the want of persuasion on his tongue. John Ruskin

No small misery is caused by overworked and unhappy people, in the dark views which they necessarily take up themselves, and force upon others, of work itself. John Ruskin

The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most. John Ruskin

All true opinions are living, and show their life by being capable of nourishment; therefore of change. But their change is that of a tree — not of a cloud. John Ruskin

Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together. John Ruskin

There is no wealth but life. Life, including all its powers of love, of joy, and of admiration. That country is the richest which nourishes the greatest numbers of noble and happy human beings; that man is richest, who, having perfected the functions of his own life to the utmost, has also the widest helpful influence, both personal, and by means of his possessions, over the lives of others. John Ruskin

Engraving is, in brief terms, the Art of Scratch. John Ruskin

Art Quotes About John Ruskin

He knows a great deal more about my pictures than I do; he puts things into my head, and points out meanings in them that I never intended. JMW Turner Quotes

John Ruskin Portrait Painting

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Related or similar popular writers and creatives include: J.M.W. Turner, Oscar Wilde, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and other Famous English Writers.