John Ruskin What We Think Analysis

It is sometimes said that thoughts develop into actions. I disagree with this statement. A person must always have thoughts and ideas before doing anything, however, without deciding to act upon the thoughts they remain merely, thoughts. John Ruskin sums it up well in this quote: “What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do.” What Ruskin means by this is people can think or believe whatever they want and it won’t amount to anything unless they make the decision to act upon it. And if they do not act upon their thoughts then they are irrelevant and amount to nothing. I strongly agree with Ruskin in this idea. This is because I have seen way too many people conjure up incredible ideas and plans, but never act upon them, causing the amazing idea to go waste. On the contrary, I have seen rash, extreme beliefs actually acted upon and the horrific aftermath that was left in the wake.
He would be insulted and disrespected by the natives. Orwell noted, “I was hated by large numbers of people”(Orwell). This was simply because he was a European and was looked upon as the oppressor, when in actuality, Orwell was against everything he was doing and was entirely on the side of the Burmese. Orwell stated that “imperialism was an evil thing” and “I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British”(Orwell). This is a perfect example of what Ruskin was talking about when he said, “The only consequence is what we do”(Ruskin). Orwell had all of these different thoughts and ideas about how he was with the Burmese in their fight and was completely against the British, but he never acted upon any of them. This lack of action resulted in him having to stray from his personal values and slaughter an elephant, “solely to avoid looking a