--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We must hold fast to the austere but true…" description: "\"We must hold fast to the austere but true doctrine as to what really governs politics and saves or destroys states. Having in mind things true, things ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/016/matthew-arnold-1235_amiable_we-must-hold-fast-to-the-austere-but-tru_19284.jpg" --- # We must hold fast to the austere but true doctrine as to… ![“We must hold fast to the austere but true doctrine as to what really governs politics and saves or destroys states. Having in mind things true, things elevated, things just, things pure, things amiable, things of good report; having these in mind, studying and loving these, is what saves states.” quote by Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/016/matthew-arnold-1235_amiable_we-must-hold-fast-to-the-austere-but-tru_19284.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/016/matthew-arnold-1235_amiable_we-must-hold-fast-to-the-austere-but-tru_19284.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/016/matthew-arnold-1235_amiable_we-must-hold-fast-to-the-austere-but-tru_19284.jpg) > “We must hold fast to the austere but true doctrine as to what really governs politics and saves or destroys states. Having in mind things true, things elevated, things just, things pure, things amiable, things of good report; having these in mind, studying and loving these, is what saves states.” [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Political stability depends on adhering to timeless, moral principles rather than fleeting interests. **In simple terms:** Governance requires immutable ethical standards. Key Takeaway Moral foundations sustain states. Themes politics ethics statecraft philosophy virtue stability Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical prescriptive When to use this quote - drafting constitutional reforms - educating civil servants - public policy debates - national crisis management Key Concepts moral doctrine public good justice civic virtue Practical Applications - Designing ethics curricula for leaders - Guiding legislative priority setting Questions to Reflect On - What principles should be prioritized in modern governance? - How can societies balance moral ideals with pragmatic needs? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amiable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amiable/) [Austere True](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/austere-true-391987/) [Doctrine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doctrine/) [Governs Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/governs-politics-391986/) [Hold fast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hold-fast/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Politics Saves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics-saves-391985/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Pure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pure/) [Really Governs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/really-governs-391984/) [Reports](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reports/) [Saves States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saves-states-391988/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [Study](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/study/) [True things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-things/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [“I think there are two kinds of TRUE THINGS-- true things that ARE, and true things that ARE NOT, but MIGHT be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/i-think-there-are-two-kinds-of-true-things-true-things-that-are-and/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [When you are young so many things are difficult to believe, and yet the dullest people will tell you that they are true--such things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-are-young-so-many-things-are-difficult-to-believe-and-yet/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was saying the right things, but not the really true things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-hannigan/i-was-saying-the-right-things-but-not-the-really-true-things/) [Katherine Hannigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-hannigan/) > [He said true things, but called them by wrong names.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-barrett-browning/he-said-true-things-but-called-them-by-wrong-names/) [Elizabeth Barrett Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-barrett-browning/) > [The entire vitality of art depends upon its being either full of truth, or full of use; and that, however pleasant, wonderful, or impressive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/the-entire-vitality-of-art-depends-upon-its-being-either-full-of/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [Writers say many true things about their own experiences with publicity and promotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-nielsen-hayden/writers-say-many-true-things-about-their-own-experiences-with/) [Teresa Nielsen Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-nielsen-hayden/) > [I want to believe as many true things and as few false things as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-dillahunty/i-want-to-believe-as-many-true-things-and-as-few-false-things-as/) [Matt Dillahunty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-dillahunty/) > [ Early in his life Mr. \[Ezra\] Pound met with strong, continued, and unintelligent opposition. If people keep opposing you when you are right, you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/early-in-his-life-mr-ezra-pound-met-with-strong-continued-and/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [The best way to show people true things is from a direction that they had not imagined the truth coming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/the-best-way-to-show-people-true-things-is-from-a-direction-that-they/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Sometimes, Shan's father had told him, people can live eighty and ninety years and only briefly, once or twice at most, glimpse the true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-pattison/sometimes-shan-s-father-had-told-him-people-can-live-eighty-and/) [Eliot Pattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliot-pattison/) > [“He said that some things are better left in the past. And true things are destined to repeat themselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-young/he-said-that-some-things-are-better-left-in-the-past-and-true-things/) [Suzanne Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-young/) > [I knew it was too good to be true. Some things never change...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-knew-it-was-too-good-to-be-true-some-things-never-change/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I always hated watching movies where the couple falls so hard and so fast. I had always thought that was too good to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-stone/i-always-hated-watching-movies-where-the-couple-falls-so-hard-and-so/) [Amanda Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-stone/) > [Doc still loved true things but he knew that it was not a general love and it could be a very dangerous mistress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/doc-still-loved-true-things-but-he-knew-that-it-was-not-a-general/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Always do what you feel deeply in the within to be the true thing to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-d-wattles/always-do-what-you-feel-deeply-in-the-within-to-be-the-true-thing-to/) [Wallace D. Wattles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-d-wattles/) ## More by Matthew Arnold > [Culture looks beyond machinery, culture hates hatred; culture has one great passion, the passion for sweetness and light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-looks-beyond-machinery-culture-hates-hatred-culture-has-one/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [“Culture is the endeavour to know the best and to make this knowledge prevail for the good of all humankind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-is-the-endeavour-to-know-the-best-and-to-make-this-knowledge/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [The difference between genuine poetry and the poetry of Dryden, Pope, and all their school, is briefly this: their poetry is conceived and composed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/the-difference-between-genuine-poetry-and-the-poetry-of-dryden-pope/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Culture, the acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world, and thus with the history of the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-the-acquainting-ourselves-with-the-best-that-has-been-known/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Strew on her roses, roses, And never a spray of yew! In quiet she reposes; Ah, would that I did too!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/strew-on-her-roses-roses-and-never-a-spray-of-yew-in-quiet-she/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Nature, with equal mind, Sees all her sons at play, Sees man control the wind, The wind sweep man away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/nature-with-equal-mind-sees-all-her-sons-at-play-sees-man-control-the/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Six years-six little years-six drops of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/six-years-six-little-years-six-drops-of-time/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Let the long contention cease! / Geese are swans, and swans are geese.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/let-the-long-contention-cease-geese-are-swans-and-swans-are-geese/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [It is almost impossible to exaggerate the proneness of the human mind to take miracles as evidence, and to seek for miracles as evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/it-is-almost-impossible-to-exaggerate-the-proneness-of-the-human-mind/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Religion is ethics heightened, enkindled, lit up by feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/religion-is-ethics-heightened-enkindled-lit-up-by-feeling/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Genius is mainly an affair of energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/genius-is-mainly-an-affair-of-energy/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Culture is both an intellectual phenomenon and a moral one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-is-both-an-intellectual-phenomenon-and-a-moral-one/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [English civilization the humanizing, the bringing into one harmonious and truly humane life, of the whole body of English society that is what interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/english-civilization-the-humanizing-the-bringing-into-one-harmonious/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [“Wandering between two worlds, one dead The other powerless to be born, With nowhere yet to rest my head Like these, on earth I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/wandering-between-two-worlds-one-dead-the-other-powerless-to-be-born/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Culture being a pursuit of our total perfection by means of getting to know, on all the matters which most concern us, the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/culture-being-a-pursuit-of-our-total-perfection-by-means-of-getting/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) [Explore all 267 Matthew Arnold quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) ## More Amiable quotes > [Drivers in a traffic jam, frustrated by each others presence, are not the most amiable of men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-riesman/drivers-in-a-traffic-jam-frustrated-by-each-others-presence-are-not/) [David Riesman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-riesman/) > [“However amiable her temper, her heart was not likely to be easily touched.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/however-amiable-her-temper-her-heart-was-not-likely-to-be-easily/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [In the taverns all was amiable and easy, but the coffeehouses were cauldrons of edgy malcontents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-holland/in-the-taverns-all-was-amiable-and-easy-but-the-coffeehouses-were/) [Barbara Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-holland/) > [If you'd be beloved, make yourself amiable. A true friend is the best possession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/if-you-d-be-beloved-make-yourself-amiable-a-true-friend-is-the-best/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Our respect for the dead, when they are just dead, is something wonderful, and the way we show it more wonderful still. We show…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/our-respect-for-the-dead-when-they-are-just-dead-is-something/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [There are only two kinds of people in the modern world who know what they are after. One, quite frankly, is the Communist. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-fisher/there-are-only-two-kinds-of-people-in-the-modern-world-who-know-what/) [Geoffrey Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-fisher/) > [He could not forgive her, but he could not be unfeeling. Though condemning her for the past, and considering it with high and unjust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/he-could-not-forgive-her-but-he-could-not-be-unfeeling-though/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Aamir and Kiran Rao are a very nice, gentle and amiable couple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shatrughan-sinha/aamir-and-kiran-rao-are-a-very-nice-gentle-and-amiable-couple/) [Shatrughan Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shatrughan-sinha/) > [The beauty of the person of Christ, as represented in the Scripture, consists in things invisible unto the eyes of flesh. They are such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/the-beauty-of-the-person-of-christ-as-represented-in-the-scripture/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [Failure on the other hand is infectious. The world is full of charming failures (for all charming people have something to conceal, usually their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/failure-on-the-other-hand-is-infectious-the-world-is-full-of-charming/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Of all the Beauties, it is that which attracts the most lasting Admiration, gives the greatest Charm to every thing we say or do,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliza-haywood/of-all-the-beauties-it-is-that-which-attracts-the-most-lasting/) [Eliza Haywood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliza-haywood/) > [Admonition never sinks so deeply on the heart as in the hour of trial; young, amiable as you are, life teems, I doubt not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-maria-roche/admonition-never-sinks-so-deeply-on-the-heart-as-in-the-hour-of-trial/) [Regina Maria Roche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/regina-maria-roche/) > [Paul Ryan, who teamed up with Akin in the House to sponsor harsh anti-abortion bills, may look young and hip and new generation, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-dowd/paul-ryan-who-teamed-up-with-akin-in-the-house-to-sponsor-harsh-anti/) [Maureen Dowd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-dowd/) > [It is an amiable part of human nature, that we should love our animals; it is even better to love them to the point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevie-smith/it-is-an-amiable-part-of-human-nature-that-we-should-love-our-animals/) [Stevie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevie-smith/) > [To be beneficent when we can is a duty; and besides this, there are many minds so sympathetically constituted that, without any other motive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/to-be-beneficent-when-we-can-is-a-duty-and-besides-this-there-are/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) [Browse all 121 Amiable quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amiable/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We must hold fast to the austere but true doctrine as to what really governs politics and saves or destroys states. 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