Full Idea
Everything beautiful is the object of desire but one desires that it be not otherwise, that it be unchanged, that it be exactly what it is.
Gist of Idea
We both desire what is beautiful, and want it to remain as it is
Source
Simone Weil (Prerequisite to Dignity of Labour [1941], p.268)
Book Reference
Weil,Simone: 'An Anthology' [Penguin 1986], p.268
A Reaction
This seems to be mostly true, though I don't think it reveals the essence of beauty. I might love a particular landscape, but want to plant a carefully place tree within it. Or change one or two words in a great poem.