BEAUTY.
“If the endeavor to analyze the world is a trifle, it is because the world is such. The sum of things can have no second intention, nor can it be characterized by any trait that is not included in itself. Some things are sweet, but what is our sense which perceives them; some things are good, but what is our conscience which judges them; some things are true, but what is our intellect which argues them; some things are deep, but what is our reason which fathoms them? Everyone who thinks deeply, must have reflected that, if the purposes and results of man’s practice are vanity, so also must be those of his speculation. Goethe said, that there was no refuge from virtues that were not our own, but in loving them; and Ecclesiastes, that there was none from the vanity of life, but in fearing and obeying God. So, also, from the vanity of speculation there is no refuge but in acquiescing in its relative nature, and accepting truth for what it is.”
“If the endeavor to analyze the world is a trifle, it is because the world is such. The sum of things can have no second intention, nor can it be characterized by any trait that is not included in itself. Some things are sweet, but what is our sense which perceives them; some things are good, but what is our conscience which judges them; some things are true, but what is our intellect which argues them; some things are deep, but what is our reason which fathoms them? Everyone who thinks deeply, must have reflected that, if the purposes and results of man’s practice are vanity, so also must be those of his speculation. Goethe said, that there was no refuge from virtues that were not our own, but in loving them; and Ecclesiastes, that there was none from the vanity of life, but in fearing and obeying God. So, also, from the vanity of speculation there is no refuge but in acquiescing in its relative nature, and accepting truth for what it is.”