No lying knight or lying priest ever prospered in any age, but especially not in the dark ones. Men prospered then only in following an openly declared purpose, and preaching candidly beloved and trusted creeds.

) (eds. Lectures in the 1860s
Ruskin lectured widely in the 1860s giving the Rede lecture at the University of Cambridge in 1867 for example. John James had sent the piece to Turner who did not wish it to be publiJohn Ruskind.

Today his ideas and concerns are widely recognised as having anticipated interest in environmentalism sustainability and craft. His writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture myth to ornithology literature to education and botany to political economy.