John Ruskin (1819–1900)

Very short, but chock-full of quotable bits. Here's just two:

" now you live under one school of architecture, and worship under another. What do you mean by doing this? ... am I to understand that you consider Gothic a pre-eminently sacred and beautiful mode of building, which you think should be...reserved for your religious services? For if this be the feeling, though it may seem at first as if it were graceful and reverent, at the root of the matter, it signifies neither more nor less than that you have separated your religion from your life."

" one does not see why feeding the hungry and clothing the naked should ever become base businesses.... If one could only consider it as much a victory to get a barren field sown, as to get an eared field stripped.... Are not all forms of heroism conceivable in doing these serviceable deeds?"

Second essay included, *The Roots of Honor*, is not skippable.

re' " the late strikes of our workmen."
"Disputant after disputant vainly strives to show that the interests of the masters are, or are not, antagonistic to those of the men: none of the pleaders ever seeming to remember that it does not absolutely or always follow that the persons must be antagonistic because their interests are.... Because their interests are diverse, they [may not] necessarily regard each other with hostility, and use violence or cunning to obtain the advantage."… (more)

I started this for two reasons.
The first one is that I read, many years ago, an essay on Proust's aesthetics based on his critique of Sesame and Lilies. I made a mental note to myself to get to the bottom of it, then I went on with my cheap thrillers and Netflix series (when Netflix arrived, that' HOW long ago I read the essay) and I forgot even what the essay said, let alone embarking in a study of the available sources. Because that's what we do, and funnily enough, now that I think of it, Ruskin describes this tendency of humanity in its universality as well as dire consequences.
The other reason is that it's very short, and since I have just started a reading challenge, my scattered brain needs an easy dopamine shot to start build a neural pathway that's gonna keep me from derailing before this train even leaves the station. This is not discussed by Ruskin in the book, though. It's good stuff, but not that all-encompassing.

Two lectures, on the value and function of reading and on the value and function of women.
I kid you not.
Jokes aside, this is a book worth reading, despite its obvious Victorian England flavour - especially in the view of women as function of men's fulfillment in the second lecture, Lilies or Of Queens' Gardens, and the casual remark about Jews in the first lecture, Sesame, or the Treasuries of Kings.
So, cancel-culture warning: if you are that kind of person, you will put this book on your nice pyre. Unless you stop for few seconds to recall who was famous in history for burning and censoring literature on the grounds of morality before you started , and decide to open your mind and learn something valid from an imperfect teacher. Which is, more or less, a point made in the lecture, by the way.
With this disclaimer out of the way, I can guarantee you that the 50 - or so - pages of Sesame are enough to give you food for thought for few weeks.

Sesame is a jewel of oratory and a treasure chest of food for thought on the human condition and on the function of art and culture in the construction of a just and spiritually elevated society. Ruskin does not spare his compatriots when it comes to condemning colonialist aggression, mass stupidity and above all exploitation and class inequality, Yet his tone always remains gentle, measured, and his intent remains visibly maieutic, starting from his Christian spirituality and from his view of the artist as a prophet of divine perfection among the people. In this world view, education is not a door to glory or social and economic advancement, but a value in itself. books are the elevated company we need to keep, the kings whose advice we need to seek to get out of our narrow opinions and better ourselves and society.
Some propositions especially struck me for their relevance, especially when Ruskin reminds us that there are books for today - the ones written like letters, to inform and communicate; and books for time, and that, although both have a dignified function, it is the books written to last that take us beyond our limits. But even the greatest thinker reaches the top in a discontinuous and episodic way, because he is human like us, but he has something so important to say that he works on it for so long, that his words become a distillation of precision in which every syllable is necessary and appropriate.
The difference between the great authors and us, their readers, is that we only have half-baked opinions that we need to refrain from seeking confirmation for in book, while the Greats may achieve, at best, the posing of a good question. This thought stayed with me in the last few days, together with the surprise at the extent to which I found relevant to our times the criticism that Ruskin advanced at Victorian society - of being a mob, guided by gut reactions to calculated propaganda with an agenda, disseminated by information steered by a greedy ruling class even less dignified than its subjects.
Ruskin thought that education for the sake of itself was the only antidote to blind patriotism, populist rage and exploitation. I have to say, we may need some more Ruskin reading than we need.… (more)