Friday, September 13, 2013

Beauty

Qualities such as kindness, intelligence, generosity, and a sense of humor are of service to others. Beauty, by contrast, serves only its possessor.

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2 comments:

owloo said...

I whole heartedly disagree with this one, Jim, but it probably all hinges on who you think possesses the beauty. For instance, someone could be very beautiful and crippled with expectation about what it means, how people should treat them, etc. Their beauty is a huge hindrance to their naturalness as a human being. Another beautiful person has no self-conscious concept of themselves as beautiful at all and so they don't often see it, and when they do they may be struck by it but it's not in a way that hinders their behaviour. In this case, their beauty is of service, if you will, to the people who see them, who enjoy the beauty of them or anything else. Of course it can work out in any number of ways, beauty can lead to obsession and jealousy, destructiveness, but so can just about anything, if that is the way the heart is inclined.

Beauty is one of my favourite aspects of life, in human beings and the world, and it is a broad, engaging concept.

September 13, 2013 at 11:59 AM
James Leff said...

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In this case, their beauty is of service, if you will, to the people who see them, who enjoy the beauty of them or anything else
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I'm not sure I will! :)

Obviously, people "enjoy" (for lack of a better word) beauty. That's why they seek it out with far greater interest than any of those other qualities.

Admiration/enjoyment are positive things (if, as you say, the process doesn't get all screwy), But your beauty is yours alone. Whereas generosity, humor, intelligence, and kindness are made for sharing.

September 13, 2013 at 2:46 PM

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