“The pursuit of perfection, then, is the pursuit of sweetness and light. He who works for sweetness and light, works to make reason and the will of God prevail.”

— Matthew Arnold, book Culture and Anarchy

Source: Culture and Anarchy (1869), Ch. I, Sweetness and Light
Context: The pursuit of perfection, then, is the pursuit of sweetness and light. He who works for sweetness and light, works to make reason and the will of God prevail. He who works for machinery, he who works for hatred, works only for confusion. Culture looks beyond machinery, culture hates hatred; culture has one great passion, the passion for sweetness and light.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The pursuit of perfection, then, is the pursuit of sweetness and light. He who works for sweetness and light, works to …" by Matthew Arnold?

Matthew Arnold166

English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector… 1822–1888

Related quotes

“Whether in the intellectual pursuits of science or in the mystical pursuits of the spirit, the light beckons ahead, and the purpose surging in our nature responds.”

Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882–1944) British astrophysicist

Source: The Nature of the Physical World

“Christ did not die to make good works merely possible or to produce a half-hearted pursuit. He died to produce in us a passion for good deeds. Christian purity is not the mere avoidance of evil, but the pursuit of good.”

John Piper (1946) American writer

Source: The Passion of Jesus Christ

“Much as we don’t condone impunity, if pursuit for justice was in conflict with pursuit for peace, peace must prevail.”

Bernard Membe (1953) Tanzanian politician

On Sudanese President Omar al Bashir's international arrest warrant. Sudan’s Bashir ‘cancelled visit to Tanzania’ http://thecitizen.co.tz/news/2-international-news/17958-sudans-bashir-cancelled-visit-to-tanzania