What is beauty?

Symmetry is beautiful, because life blooms in cycles rather than episodes.

Elegance is beautiful, because everything that matters can be described in a few math equations or observed between a few kindergartners.

Contrast is beautiful, because something that lacks an alternative also lacks meaning.

Connection is beautiful, because the... See more

What's beautiful depends on who we are, what we've encountered, where we live, and when. Likewise, the art that opens us to the chaotic stream of reality-the art we find beautiful-changes with time and with us, as we evolve. Beauty, I'd come to think, doesn't have to have a physical form, and it certainly doesn't have to be something we agree on.

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First, beauty evokes a longing for fullness and creation, even in the form of duplication. We want to tell others about beautiful paintings we have seen, beautiful songs we have heard, even beautiful arguments we have read. The desire to spread the beauty one beholds acts as a force not only for beauty but also for truth. "[T]he beautiful person or... See more