beauty
What is beauty? Is it a pant size, hair color, weight, or height? Is it nationality, intelligence, voice, laugh, or seduction technique? Is beauty what makes people fall in love or make the world spin? No, beauty is indefinable; it is a secret that each person has to discover the limits of on his or her own.
In 1828 Noah Webster defined beauty as the following: “An assemblage of graces, or an assemblage of properties in the form of the person or any other object, which pleases the eye. In the person due proportion or symmetry of parts constitutes the most essential property to which we annex the term beauty. In the face, the regularity and symmetry of the features, the color of the skin, the expression of the are, are among the principal properties, which constitute beauty. But as it is hardly possible to define all the properties which constitute beauty, we may observe in general, that beauty consists in whatever pleases the eye of the beholder, whether in the human body, in a tree, in a landscape, or in any other object. Beauty is intrinsic and perceived by the eye at first view, or relative, to perceive which the aid of the understanding and reflection is requisite. Thus, the beauty of a machine is not perceived, till we understand its uses, and adaptation to its purpose. ” While Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines beauty as the follow: “the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind of spirit.”
Somewhere in there I believe the true definition of beauty was lost. Even today most people would just say “well it means that a person is hott.” Most of society connects beauty with sexuality, when in reality the two do not have a joined definition. Beauty is some physical prettiness with a lot of personal charm. A beautiful girl may not be the one that makes the boys look twice as she trips down the hall but she makes the boys smile and the girls adore her. A beautiful person smiles often because they have a heart of joy and a content spirit. A beautiful person always listens and constantly has words of compassion. He/she is continually hugging everyone around and wiping away every tear. A beautiful person ranks his/her needs and desires below those of everyone else. A beautiful person is gentle and soft, he/she cares deeply forever person whose life connects to his/hers.
The number of magazine covers a person is on, or how many proposals have been received don't measure beauty. Beauty is measured by how many lives have been touched, if it can really be measured at all. Just as Webster stated in 1828 beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
In 1828 Noah Webster defined beauty as the following: “An assemblage of graces, or an assemblage of properties in the form of the person or any other object, which pleases the eye. In the person due proportion or symmetry of parts constitutes the most essential property to which we annex the term beauty. In the face, the regularity and symmetry of the features, the color of the skin, the expression of the are, are among the principal properties, which constitute beauty. But as it is hardly possible to define all the properties which constitute beauty, we may observe in general, that beauty consists in whatever pleases the eye of the beholder, whether in the human body, in a tree, in a landscape, or in any other object. Beauty is intrinsic and perceived by the eye at first view, or relative, to perceive which the aid of the understanding and reflection is requisite. Thus, the beauty of a machine is not perceived, till we understand its uses, and adaptation to its purpose. ” While Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines beauty as the follow: “the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind of spirit.”
Somewhere in there I believe the true definition of beauty was lost. Even today most people would just say “well it means that a person is hott.” Most of society connects beauty with sexuality, when in reality the two do not have a joined definition. Beauty is some physical prettiness with a lot of personal charm. A beautiful girl may not be the one that makes the boys look twice as she trips down the hall but she makes the boys smile and the girls adore her. A beautiful person smiles often because they have a heart of joy and a content spirit. A beautiful person always listens and constantly has words of compassion. He/she is continually hugging everyone around and wiping away every tear. A beautiful person ranks his/her needs and desires below those of everyone else. A beautiful person is gentle and soft, he/she cares deeply forever person whose life connects to his/hers.
The number of magazine covers a person is on, or how many proposals have been received don't measure beauty. Beauty is measured by how many lives have been touched, if it can really be measured at all. Just as Webster stated in 1828 beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
(written Nov 4, 2004)
posted by Fallin Raine | 7:20 PM
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