The painful, the hideous, and the shocking are legitimate inspirations of art, as well as the beautiful and agreeable. The latter intimate the direction we should go, the former the dangers we may have to encounter and the existence of suffering which calls for our sympathy.
Fear and Folly are the couple whose offspring is Distress.
The emotion that does not incite to action, enfeebles.
Activity does not mean excitement. Healthful action is uniform. The wheel of most rapid revolution is the most regular in its motion.
Nature soothes because she knows nothing of our conflicts. Like Spinoza’s God, she loves no one and hates no one.