“For certainly it is excellent discipline for an author to feel that he must say all he has to say in the fewest possible words, or his reader is sure to skip them; and in the plainest possible words, or his reader will certainly misunderstand them” JOHN RUSKIN (1857)
Arecent visit to Ruskin’s former home, Brantwood, idyllically situated above Coniston Water in the Lake District, taught me a lot about the life and work of this remarkable writer, artist and social reformer. On display, alongside furniture and artefacts used by Ruskin, are quotations from his huge output of writings. The range of his interests was immense and included, among much else, art and architecture, literature, craft, conservation, education and social reform. Ruskin’s ideas on social reform and on conservation were well ahead of their time.