激情晨读英语美文 第三章 美是大地的微笑:爱美之心

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The Love of Beauty
By John Ruskin
The love of beauty
is an essential part of all healthy human nature.
It is a moral quality.
The absence of it is not an assured ground of condemnation,
but the presence of it is an invariable sign of goodness of heart.
In proportion to the degree in which it is felt
will probably be the degree
in which nobleness and beauty of character will be attained.
Natural beauty is an all-pervading presence.
The universe is its temple.
It unfolds into the numberless flowers of spring.
It waves in the branches of trees and the green blades of grass.
It haunts the depths of the earth and the sea.
It gleams from the hues of the shell and the precious stone.
And not only these minute objects but the oceans,
the mountains, the clouds, the stars,
the rising and the setting sun — all overflow with beauty.
This beauty is so precious,
and so congenial to our tenderest and noblest feelings,
that it is painful to think of the multitude of people
living in the midst of it
and yet remaining almost blind to it.
All people should seek to become acquainted
with the beauty in nature.
There is not a worm we tread upon,
nor a leaf that dances merrily as it falls
before the autumn winds,
that does not call for our study and admiration.
The power to appreciate beauty
not only increases our sources of happiness —
it enlarges our moral nature, too.
Beauty calms our restlessness and dispels our cares.
Go into the fields or the woods,
spend a summer day by the sea or the mountains,
and all your little perplexities and anxieties will vanish.
Listen to sweet music,
and your foolish fears and petty jealousies will pass away.
The beauty of the world
helps us to seek and find the beauty of goodness.