"I love all beauteous things,
I seek and adore them:
God hath no better praise.
And man in his hasty days
is honoured for them.
-Robert Bridges
Once Plato was asked, "What is the best education? ' The famous philosopher replied, "It is that which gives to the body and to the soul all the beauty and all the perfection of which they are capable.'
A love for the beautiful is the finest of human qualities,. It is beauty that sweetens, enriches and perfects human life. Even the barbarians who devastated Greece. Demolishing temples and destroying beautiful works of art. were tamed by the beauty they saw on every side.
As O.S. Marden says, it is not enough to cultivate mere physical and intellectual strength. If the aesthetic side of one's being , an appreciation of all that is beautiful in nature and art, is not fostered. Life will be like a country without flowers or birds, sweet scents or sounds colour or music.
It may be strong, but it will lack the graces that would adorn its strength and make it attractive.
It is for man that the good God has filled land and sea with loveliness and beauty. A thing of beauty is a joy for every man, and the one who cannot enjoy a marvellous painting , a melodious song or a beautiful sunset is not full human the most civilised man is the one whose aesthetic faculties are best developed. The highest expression of civilisation is the aspiration and love for the beautiful.
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