For rigorous teachers seized my youth, And purged its faith, and trimm'd its fire, Show'd me the high white star of Truth, There bade me gaze, and there aspire.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Strict mentors refined the speaker's early beliefs and passions, directing them toward truth and high ideals.
- In plain terms
- Tough teachers shaped my young mind toward truth and greatness.
- What can you take from it?
- Challenging guidance helps focus your pursuit of truth.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who shaped your early beliefs?
- What truth do you aspire to?
Another view
Strict guidance can sometimes limit individual creativity.
More from Matthew Arnold
Sanity - that is the great virtue of the ancient literature; the want of that is the great defect of the modern, in spite of its variety and power.
Permalink to quote #24 Wandering between two worlds, one dead, The other powerless to be born, With nowhere yet to rest my head, Like these, on earth I wait forlorn.
Permalink to quote #26 I am past thirty, and three parts iced over.
Permalink to quote #23
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