4 quotes
Culture is then properly described not as having its origin in curiosity, but as having its origin in the love of perfection; it is a study of perfection.
Culture and Anarchy (1869)
The governing idea of Hellenism is spontaneity of consciousness; that of Hebraism, strictness of conscience.
Culture and Anarchy (1869)
The power of the Latin classic is in character, that of the Greek is in beauty. Now character is capable of being taught, learnt, and assimilated: beauty hardly.
Schools and Universities on the Continent (1868)
Even in our poor old country, with its aristocratic class materialized, its middle class vulgarized, its lower class brutalized, there are to be found individuals, as I have again and again said, lovers of the humane life, lovers of perfection, who emerge in all classes, and who, while they are more or less in conflict with the present, point to a better future.
Civilization in the United States (1888)