Beauty?

Beauty is of value only to the extent that it speaks to us. It could be a universal communicator if we ourselves were universal in our  sympathies. But we are not. Our finite nature, the power of tradition and conventionality as well as our hereditary instincts restrict the scope of our capacity for artistic enjoyment. Our very individuality establishes a limit to our understanding and our aesthetic personality seeks its own affinities in the creations of the past. It is true that with cultivation our sense of appreciation broadens and we become able to enjoy many hitherto unrecognised expressions of beauty. But after all, we see only our own image in the universe. It is our particular idiosyncrasies that dictate the mode of our perceptions.

John Audet