“The man is now a man. The blessed glow of Labour in him, is it not a purifying fire, wherein all poison is burnt up, and of sour smoke itself there is made bright blessed flame!”
~Thomas Carlyle, Labour
I think it is really interesting that we read Carlyle after reading about the French Revolution. Thomas Carlyle was obviously a fan of the working class! I feel that this quote is the perfect example of Carlyle’s feelings and beliefs. Work can help a person become themselves:
It has been written, “An endless significance lies in Work”; a man perfects himself by working. Foul jungles are cleared away, fair seedfields rise instead, and stately cities; and withal the man himself first ceases to be a jungle and foul unwholesome desert thereby (1039).
Carlyle believes that through work, all imperfections can be diminished, if not abolished. Finding work can lead you to become the person you were intended to be. It can lead us to our true purpose, “Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness. He has a work, a life purpose; he has found it, and will follow it” (1040)!
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