What Is Beauty: Definitions of the Word Beauty

What is beauty? Can it be felt with the senses, or is it something only grasped by the mind? Random House Dictionary defines beauty as the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind. When one mentions the word, thousands of images spiral through the mind in a magnificent maze of ambiguity. Ultimately, beauty is an abstract concept, but I see beauty in a variety of different subjects and ideas.

Beauty is a library full of books. I admire human achievement as it has progressed through the endless rotation of history. Countless books line the shelves, waiting to disperse their wisdom upon the reader. The classics will always be my favorites. Now, anything has a chance of reaching the consumer.

At one time, only the most important ideas in a society were transcribed to paper for future generations to marvel and decipher. Where would we be without Homer, Dante, Milton, Shakespeare, or the Bible? Beauty is mysterious. I puzzle often over the fact that humans are the only animals able to put thoughts into words and words into literature. The sheer splendor of being able to comprehend language amazes me. A library represents the fullest extent of the wonder of human intellect and comprehension.

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Beauty is found in helping others. To many people, life is more than just living for selfish motives and desires. Humanity clings and respects the firefighter who risks mortality to rescue the girl in the burning building or the woman who sacrifices everything for the sake of her family. To serve another person is to transcend the animal found in all men.

Our instincts, from an evolutionary standpoint, tell us to fight only for the wellbeing of the self. Some would say that humanity achieves greatest by being the only animal able to fight the genes of selfishness for the good of others. The idea of the Golden Rule is found in nearly every society, yet it seems to defy the concept of survival of the fittest. Selflessness is one of the greatest virtues an individual can strive to possess.

Beauty is the changing of the seasons. Winter mysteriously gives way to spring as the grass brightens to vivid hues of green.

The earth seems to be welcoming warmer temperatures by putting on a grand display. The trees, eager to please the blissful season, return their long lost and withered leafs. Winter is not willing to retire without a fight though. Storms bring devastation to many and rain butchers the landscape. Spring, too, eventually grows tired. Summer comes to brighten the youth as images of poolside fun filter the landscape. Summer beckons humanity out of hiding and into the expanse of nature. The warmth does not last eternally though.

Autumn creeps onto the calendar as the leafs of spring transform into shades of red, orange, and yellow. The season of Thanksgiving never seems to last long enough. Winter, being the jealous type, often brings short days and frigid temperatures as autumn clings to subtle dominance. With winter, the earth is transformed into a wonderland of snow and ice. Thus, the beautiful cycle continues to amaze those who look for the quiet imprint of mystery.

What is beauty? To define such a word is to reach into the farthest corners of the mind. One must examine how one truly feels about the subject to answer the question honestly. As I probed my mind, the three ideas mentioned above finally came into view. I see beauty in a library full of books, in helping others, and in the changing of the seasons. To me, beauty should inspire awe and mystery. It has a vague quality that is almost untouchable by mere thought. Beauty is the quality all things strive for, yet the elusive quality can only be claimed by a few.

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