Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful. ~ Nhat Hanh
Everything on earth is beautiful, everything — except what we ourselves think and do when we forget the higher purposes of life and our own human dignity. ~ Anton Chekhov
Robert Francis
The beautiful is fair. The just is fair.
Yet one is commonplace and one is rare,
One everywhere, one scarcely anywhere.
So fair unfair a world. Had we the wit
To use the surplus for the deficit,
We’d make a fairer fairer world of it.
All in the world know the beauty of the beautiful,
and in doing this they have (the idea of) what ugliness is;
they all know the skill of the skilful,
and in doing this they have (the idea of) what the want of skill is.
So it is that existence and non-existence give birth the one to (the idea of) the other;
that difficulty and ease produce the one (the idea of) the other;
that length and shortness fashion out the one the figure of the other;
that (the ideas of) height and lowness arise from the contrast of the one with the other;
that the musical notes and tones become harmonious through the relation of one with another;
and that being before and behind give the idea of one following another.
Therefore the sage manages affairs without doing anything, and conveys his instructions without the use of speech.
All things spring up, and there is not one which declines to show itself;
they grow, and there is no claim made for their ownership;
they go through their processes, and there is no expectation (of a reward for the results).
The work is accomplished, and there is no resting in it (as an achievement).
The work is done, but how no one can see;
‘Tis this that makes the power not cease to be.
“Every day for a week, photograph something you find subtly beautiful: patterns in your sheets when you get up, your dog’s eyelashes, your child’s hands while they draw. At the end of the week, take a few minutes to look at them together.” Source
NOTE: The writer of the above advice offers the reader a challenge. The challenge isn’t so much about taking photos, the challenge lies in finding something beautiful, something that touches the heart. To find something beautiful that touches the heart requires us to slow down, empty our minds and let our hearts discover it for us.
Our days are better when we discover something beautiful to see. If we’re too busy, we’ll miss it. Slow down, perhaps to the speed limit, and enjoy all the beauty surrounding you.
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.”
