There is nothing ugly

There is nothing ugly;

I never saw an ugly thing in my life:

for let the form of an object be what it may,

light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful.

- John Constable -

I hope you have lost your good looks

I hope you have lost your good looks,

for while they last any fool can adore you,

and the adoration of fools is bad for the soul.

No, give me a ruined complexion and a lost figure

and sixteen chins on a farmyard of Crow’s feet and an obvious wig.

Then you shall see me coming out strong.

- George Bernard Shaw -

Beauty?

Beauty?…

To me it is a word without

sense because I do not know where its

meaning comes from nor where it leads to.

- Pablo Picasso -

One summer night

One summer night,

out on a flat headland,

all but surrounded by the waters of the bay,

the horizons were remote and distant rims on the edge of space.

Millions of stars blazed in darkness,

and on the far shore a few lights burned in cottages.

Otherwise there was no reminder of human life.

My companion and I were alone with the stars:

the misty river of the Milky Way flowing across the sky,

the patterns of the constellations standing out bright and clear,

a blazing planet low on the horizon.

It occurred to me that if this were a sight

that could be seen only once in a century,

this little headland would be thronged with spectators.

But it can be see many scores of nights in any year,

and so the lights burned in the cottages and the inhabitants

probably gave not a thought to the beauty overhead;

and because they could see it almost any night,

perhaps they never will.

- Rachel Carson -

Beauty deprived of its proper foils

Beauty deprived of its proper foils

and adjuncts ceases to be enjoyed as beauty,

just as light deprived of all shadows ceases to be enjoyed as light.

- John Ruskin -

We ascribe beauty

We ascribe beauty

to that which is simple;

which has no superfluous parts;

which exactly answers its end;

which stands related to all things;

which is the mean of many extremes.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson -

Some people

Some people,

no matter how old they get,

never lose their beauty - they

merely move it from their faces into their hearts.

- Martin Buxbaum -

Against Him those women

Against Him those women sin

who torment their skin with potions,

stain their cheeks with rouge and extend

the line of their eyes with black coloring.

Doubtless they are dissatisfied with God’s plastic skill.

In their own persons they convict and censure the Artificer of all things.

- Tertullian -

Everybody needs beauty

Everybody needs

beauty as well as bread,

places to play in and pray in,

where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.

- John Muir -

Though we travel the

Though we travel the

world over to find the beautiful,

we must carry it with us or we find it not.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson -