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Full Idea
Beauty is the supreme mystery of the world. It is a gleam which attracts the attention and yet does nothing to sustain it. …While exciting desire, it makes clear that there is nothing in it to be desired, because what we want is that it should not change.
Gist of Idea
Beauty is an attractive mystery, leaving nothing to be desired
Source
Simone Weil (Human Personality [1943], p.92)
Book Ref
Weil,Simone: 'An Anthology' [Penguin 1986], p.92
A Reaction
She attributes beauty to a supernatural source. I catalogue this idea under 'the sublime', rather than 'beauty'. It may be better to say that beauty inspires love, rather than desire.
Related Idea
Idea 23759 Everything which originates in love is beautiful [Weil]