Welcome to our collection of insightful and profound quotes by Matthew Arnold, the distinguished English poet and cultural critic of the 19th century. Matthew Arnold is celebrated for his literary contributions, where he eloquently explored themes of culture, society, and the human condition. His words resonate across generations, offering timeless wisdom and contemplation on various aspects of life.
As a prominent figure of the Victorian era, Matthew Arnold’s writings reflect a deep engagement with the prevailing social, political, and intellectual currents of his time. Through his poetry and critical essays, Arnold delved into the complexities of modernity, grappling with the tensions between tradition and progress, faith and doubt, and the individual and society. His keen observations and sharp insights continue to captivate readers, inspiring reflection and dialogue on the challenges and aspirations of humanity.
Below, you’ll find a selection of Matthew Arnold’s most memorable quotes, each imbued with a depth of thought and a richness of expression that invites further contemplation and interpretation. These quotes can be utilized in various ways whether as sources of inspiration, prompts for self-reflection, or as poignant reminders of the enduring relevance of Arnold’s literary legacy.
Poetry is simply the most beautiful, impressive, and widely effective mode of saying things. Matthew Arnold
It is so small a thing to have enjoyed the sun, to have lived light in the spring, to have loved, to have thought, to have done. Matthew Arnold
Conduct is three-fourths of our life and its largest concern. Matthew Arnold
Journalism is literature in a hurry. Matthew Arnold
Nature, with equal mind, Sees all her sons at play, Sees man control the wind, The wind sweep man away. Matthew Arnold
The freethinking of one age is the common sense of the next. Matthew Arnold
Resolve to be thyself: and know that he who finds himself, loses his misery. Matthew Arnold
Waiting for the spark from heaven to fall. Matthew Arnold
Spare me the whispering, crowded room, the friends who come and gape and go, the ceremonious air of gloom – all, which makes death a hideous show. Matthew Arnold
The pursuit of perfection, then, is the pursuit of sweetness and light. Matthew Arnold
Truth sits upon the lips of dying men. Matthew Arnold
To have the sense of creative activity is the great happiness and the great proof of being alive. Matthew Arnold
Bald as the bare mountain tops are bald, with a baldness full of grandeur. Matthew Arnold
Sad Patience, too near neighbour to despair. Matthew Arnold
The true meaning of religion is thus, not simply morality, but morality touched by emotion. Matthew Arnold
And we forget because we must and not because we will. Matthew Arnold
Greatness is a spiritual condition worthy to excite love, interest, and admiration; and the outward proof of possessing greatness is that we excite love, interest and admiration. Matthew Arnold
Not a having and a resting, but a growing and becoming, is the character of perfection as culture conceives it. Matthew Arnold
For the creation of a masterwork of literature two powers must concur, the power of the man and the power of the moment, and the man is not enough without the moment. Matthew Arnold
France, famed in all great arts, in none supreme. Matthew Arnold
Home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names, and impossible loyalties! Matthew Arnold
Still bent to make some port he knows not where, still standing for some false impossible shore. Matthew Arnold
It is almost impossible to exaggerate the proneness of the human mind to take miracles as evidence, and to seek for miracles as evidence. Matthew Arnold
Culture is to know the best that has been said and thought in the world. Matthew Arnold
Use your gifts faithfully, and they shall be enlarged; practice what you know, and you shall attain to higher knowledge. Matthew Arnold
Poetry; a criticism of life under the conditions fixed for such a criticism by the laws of poetic truth and poetic beauty. Matthew Arnold
Because thou must not dream, thou need not despair. Matthew Arnold
Culture is properly described as the love of perfection; it is a study of perfection. Matthew Arnold
Our society distributes itself into Barbarians, Philistines and Populace; and America is just ourselves with the Barbarians quite left out, and the Populace nearly. Matthew Arnold
The need of expansion is as genuine an instinct in man as the need in a plant for the light, or the need in man himself for going upright. The love of liberty is simply the instinct in man for expansion. Matthew Arnold
