All work is as seed sown; it grows and spreads, and sows itself anew.
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Essay (1832-05) “Boswell’s Life of Johnson,” Fraser’s Magazine, Vol. 5, No. 28
(Source)
Reviewing James Boswell The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.; including a Tour to the Hebrides (1831 ed.). Collected in Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1827-1855).
Quotations about:
harvest
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MARCUS: As a field, though fertile, cannot yield a harvest without cultivation, no more can the mind without learning.
[Ut ager quamvis fertilis sine cultura fructuosus esse non potest, sic sine doctrina animus.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Tusculan Disputations [Tusculanae Disputationes], Book 2, ch. 5 (2.5) / sec. 13 (2.13) (45 BC) [tr. Peabody (1886)]
(Source)
Often rendered in reverse order (see Harbottle, below).
Original Latin. Other translations:As a Field, though it be Fruitful, without Tillage cannot bring a good Crop, so the Soul without Learning.
[tr. Wase (1643)]As the field naturally fruitful cannot produce a crop, without dressing, so neither can the mind, without improvement.
[tr. Main (1824)]As the field, however fertile, cannot be fruitful without culture, so with the mind, without learning.
[tr. Otis (1839)]As a field, although it may be naturally fruitful cannot produce a crop, without dressing, so neither can the mind, without education.
[tr. Yonge (1853)]A mind without instruction can no more bear fruit than can a field, however fertile, without cultivation.
[ed. Harbottle (1897)]Just as a field however fertile cannot be fruitful without cultivation, neither can the soul without instruction.
[tr. Douglas (1990)]Just as a field, however fertile, cannot be productive without cultivation, so the soul cannot be without teaching.
[tr. Davie (2017)]
In all truth I tell you, unless a wheat grain falls into the earth and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies it yields a rich harvest.
[ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ἐὰν μὴ ὁ κόκκος τοῦ σίτου πεσὼν εἰς τὴν γῆν ἀποθάνῃ αὐτὸς μόνος μένει ἐὰν δὲ ἀποθάνῃ πολὺν καρπὸν φέρει.]
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Book 4. Gospel of John 12:24 (John 12:24) (Jesus) [NJB (1985)]
(Source)
No Synoptic parallels.
(Source (Greek)). Other translations:Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
[KJV (1611)]I tell you, most solemnly, unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.
[JB (1966)]I am telling you the truth: a grain of wheat remains no more than a single grain unless it is dropped into the ground and dies. If it does die, then it produces many grains.
[GNT (1976)]I assure you that unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it can only be a single seed. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
[CEB (2011)]Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]
Lord, what can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the Reaper Man?
I like to see flowers growing, but when they are gathered, they cease to please. I look on them as things rootless and perishable; their likeness to life makes me sad. I never offer flowers to those I love; I never wish to receive them from hands dear to me.
Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855) British novelist [pseud. Currer Bell]
Villette, ch. 24 “Monsieur’s Fête” (1853)
(Source)
