The business of finding a nation's soul is a long and slow one at the best and a great many prophets must be slain in the course of it. Perhaps when we have slain enough prophets future generations will begin to build their tombs.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Finding a nation's identity is hard and costly, requiring many failed attempts before progress.
- In plain terms
- Discovering a national identity takes a long time and many sacrifices.
- What can you take from it?
- Cultural identity takes time and sacrifice to discover.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who counts as a prophet?
- Is sacrifice necessary for progress?
Another view
Some 'prophets' are silenced for bad ideas, not good ones.
More from Ralph Vaughan Williams
The art of music above all the other arts is the expression of the soul of a nation.
Permalink to quote #4 I don't know whether I like it, but it's what I meant.
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