"And how has it come, this slowly growing faith in Perfection for Perfection's sake? Surely thus. When the... world awoke one day to find that it no longer believed... in future life for the individual—when it began to feel: "I cannot say more than that... Death may be nothing"... And, since it found that it desired to go on living... it began to inquire why. And slowly it perceived that there was, inborn within it, a passionate... sacred instinct to perfect itself... because Perfection was desirable, a vision to be adored and striven for... the very essential Cause of everything. And it began to see that this Perfection, cosmically, was nothing but perfect Equilibrium and Harmony; and in human relations... perfect Love and Justice. And Perfection began to glow... like a new star, whose light touched... all things as they came forth from Mystery, till to Mystery they were ready to return. ...There has crept into our minds once more the feeling that the Universe is all of a piece. Equipoise supreme; and all things equally wonderful, and mysterious, and valuable. We have begun... to have a glimmering of the artist's creed, that nothing may we despise or neglect—that everything is worth the doing well, the making fair—that... God, Perfection, is implicit everywhere, and the revelation of Him, the business of our Art."
Perfection

January 1, 1970

Quote Details

Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Added on April 10, 2026
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English