Almost any intense emotion may open our “inward eye” to the beauty of reality. Falling in love appears to do it for some people. The beauty of nature or the exhilaration of artistic creation does it for others. Probably any high experience may momentarily stretch our souls up on tiptoe, so that we catch a glimpse of that marvelous beauty which is always there, but which we are not often tall enough to perceive.
~Margaret Prescott Montague
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Beauty is the mysterious quality that shouts loudly, "Ah, this experience is right for me now!" It is an abstract term that is difficult to define because it has a slightly different meaning for each of us. But I think we will agree that when we accept or experience beauty, we intuitively know that life contains much more than we can comprehend. Beauty always suggests something beyond--something greater than ourselves.
The search for beauty is a journey into the meaning of the universe. The experience of something beautiful is a reward for our perseverance. Beauty goes beyond the hardships of life and can make it all worthwhile. When beauty finally suffuses our souls, nothing else will take precedence, because we will have discovered the essence of God.
~Charles D. Lelly
(The Beautiful Way of Life)