
Letter to Benjamin Bailey (November 22, 1817)
Letters (1817–1820)
Letter to Benjamin Bailey (November 22, 1817)
Letters (1817–1820)
“Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it.”
Variant: It's a very Greek idea, and a very profound one. Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it.
Source: The Secret History
Source: Personal Destinies: A Philosophy of Ethical Individualism (1976), pp. 7-8
“Whatever is referred to must exist. Let us call this the axiom of existence.”
Source: Speech Acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language (1969), P. 77.
Letter to a relative, (1861).
Context: I think I have fairly heard and fairly weighed the evidence on both sides, and I remain an utter disbeliever in almost all that you consider the most sacred truths [... ] I can see much to admire in all religions [... ] But whether there be a God and whatever be His nature; whether we have an immortal soul or not, or whatever may be our state after death, I can have no fear of having to suffer for the study of nature and the search for truth.
“The truth lose its beauty once it's visible before your eyes.”