"Once in a century a man may be ruined or made insufferable by praise. But surely once in a minute something generous dies for want of it"
About this Quote
The intent isn’t to romanticize validation; it’s to indict a culture of emotional austerity. "Something generous" is deliberately vague: a kind impulse, a fledgling courage, the willingness to try again, a vulnerable act that needs a small witness. Masefield implies that generosity is not an infinite well but a living thing with a survival threshold. Without recognition, it doesn’t just go unrewarded; it dies. That’s a harsher claim than "people like compliments". It suggests that moral behavior is partly ecological: it depends on small, public acts of noticing.
Context matters. Masefield lived through an era marked by rigid masculinity, class restraint, and wartime stoicism - settings where praise could feel unmanly, sentimental, even socially improper. His line reads as a corrective to that posture: if we’re so afraid of inflating egos, we quietly accept a daily attrition of kindness. The subtext is practical ethics: praise isn’t luxury; it’s maintenance.
Quote Details
| Topic | Gratitude |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Masefield, John. (2026, January 15). Once in a century a man may be ruined or made insufferable by praise. But surely once in a minute something generous dies for want of it. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/once-in-a-century-a-man-may-be-ruined-or-made-92793/
Chicago Style
Masefield, John. "Once in a century a man may be ruined or made insufferable by praise. But surely once in a minute something generous dies for want of it." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/once-in-a-century-a-man-may-be-ruined-or-made-92793/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Once in a century a man may be ruined or made insufferable by praise. But surely once in a minute something generous dies for want of it." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/once-in-a-century-a-man-may-be-ruined-or-made-92793/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
