state of pregnancy, both spiritual and physical, and when they come to maturity they feel a natural desire to bring forth, but they can do so only in beauty

There is something divine about the whole matter; in pregnancy and bringing to birth the mortal creature is endowed with a touch of immortality. But the process cannot take place in disharmony, in any condition out of harmony with the divine, whereas beauty is harmony with the divine. That is why Beauty, in your theology, is the goddess who presides over travail, and why, when a person in a state of pregnancy comes

into contact with beauty, he has a feeling of serenity and happy relaxation which makes it possible to bring forth and give birth. The object of love, I assure you, Socrates, is to procreate and to bring forth in beauty. And now, why is procreation the object of love? Because procreation is the nearest thing to perpetuity and immortality that a mortal being can attain. If, as we agreed, love is of perpetual possession of the good, it necessarily follows that it must desire immortality together with the good. This argument leads us to the inevitable conclusion that love is of immortality as well as of good.'

My Noble Affliction

Here, poised for a moment at the shadow edge of Eternity Whence I shall soon depart,

I hold aloft my hands in supplication

to that unseen Benefactor

who visited on me a most grave affliction,

then-through my affliction-

taught these hands His most wondrous talents;

instilled in this heart

a love and adoration for my fellow man

too great to be understood by any but a chosen few;

and blessed me with a unique ability

to perceive the endeavor for which both were best suited.

Like Socrates, I will depart with warm happiness

knowing that the art which grew out of my noble affliction will be remembered with deep respect

long after the affliction which made it possible

has been forgotten.

one

-Anonymous, ROME, 1564.

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