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About this quote

What does it mean?
True opinions must be alive and open to change, but that change should be growth rather than arbitrary shifting.
In plain terms
Real beliefs grow like trees, not like clouds that drift without purpose.
What can you take from it?
Stay open to change, but ensure it is structured growth.

Where it applies

  • debate
  • learning
  • personal development

Putting it to work

  • evaluate beliefs
  • allow growth
  • avoid whimsy

Questions to consider

  • How does your opinion grow over time?
  • Is this change like a tree or a cloud?

Another view

Not all change is healthy; some shifts are arbitrary or destructive.

More from John Ruskin

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  3. It is not possible to find a landscape, which if painted precisely as it is, will not make an impressive picture. No one knows, till he has tried, what strange…

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