“You worship this tree because it is beautiful. Therefore you are capable of feeling beauty. Now I come to reveal to you the hidden beauty.”

— Anatole France , book Penguin Island

Book I : The Beginnings, Ch. II : The Apostolical Vocation Of Saint Mael
Penguin Island (1908)
Context: A beautiful fig-tree raised itself in a hollow of the island and thrust forth its branches far and wide. The inhabitants of the island used to worship it.
And the holy Mael said to them: "You worship this tree because it is beautiful. Therefore you are capable of feeling beauty. Now I come to reveal to you the hidden beauty." And he taught them the Gospel. And after having instructed them, he baptized them with salt and water.

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Anatole France 122

French writer 1844–1924

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