[00:10.82]The love of beauty is an essential part of all healthy human nature. It is a moral quality.
[00:18.90]The absence of it is not an assured ground of condemnation,
[00:23.61]but the presence of it is an invariable sign of goodness of heart.
[00:29.29]In proportion to the degree in which it is felt will probably be the degree in which nobleness
[00:35.68]and beauty of character will be attained.
[00:39.52]Natural beauty is an all pervading presence. The universe is its temple.
[00:46.36]It unfolds into the numberless flowers of spring. It waves in the branches of trees and the green blades of grass.
[00:56.13]It haunts the depths of the earth and the sea. It gleams from the hues of the shell and the precious stone.
[01:06.21]And not only these minute objects but the oceans, the mountains,
[01:11.98]the clouds, the stars, the rising and the setting sun - all overflow with beauty.
[01:21.16]This beauty is so precious, and so congenial to our tenderest and noblest feelings,
[01:28.93]that it is painful to think of the multitude of people living in the midst of it and yet remaining almost blind to it.
[01:38.83]All persons should seek to become acquinted with the beauty in nature.
[01:44.30]There is not a worm we tread upon, nor a leaf that dances merrily as it falls before the autumn winds,
[01:52.41]but calls for our study and admiration. The power to appreciate beauty not merely increases our sources of happiness -
[02:02.70]it enlarges our moral nature, too. Beauty calms our restlessness and dispels our cares.
[02:11.77]Go into the fields or the woods, spend a summer day by the sea or the mountains,
[02:18.13]and all your little perplexities and anxieties will vanish. Listen to sweet music,
[02:26.57]and your foolish fears and petty jealousies will pass away.
[02:31.51]The beauty of the world helps us to seek and find the beauty of goodness.
