Sesame and Lilies is a novel by John Ruskin. John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolorist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political economy. His writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. Ruskin penned essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy tale. The elaborate style that characterized his earliest writing on art was later superseded by a preference for plainer language designed to communicate his ideas more effectively. In all of his writing, he emphasized the connections between nature, art and society. He also made detailed sketches and paintings of rocks, plants, birds, landscapes, and architectural structures and ornamentation.

约翰·罗斯金，英国著名作家、艺术史学家，维多利亚朝代最伟大的艺术评论家。毕生推崇艺术之美与社会功用的合二为一，曾深刻影响过王尔德的思想，被尊为"美的使者"长达半个世纪。芝麻，不是一个开启阿里巴巴财富之门的咒语，而是一个隐喻。任何一个追求品位生活的青年（尤其是男青年）都应该掌握通向智慧宝库的钥匙，那便是亲近经典、分享激情。 百合，是圣洁的象征，代表了女性的忠贞与纯洁。首先要培养女性的外在美，但更要注重她的学识、个性和情感的锻造，她的魅力体现在自身、丈夫和孩子的幸福程度上。 生活中有很多悖论，不要让这些谜团破灭我们的憧憬，让希望的光亮不会因为不可抗拒的岁月而暗淡，用艺术来点亮未来。