The Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1981
by Oscar WildeThe artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art’s aim.The critic is he who can translate into anothermanner or a new material his impression of beautiful things. The highest as the lowest form of criti- cism is a mode of autobiography.Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming.This is a fault.
Those who find beautiful meanings
in beautiful thingsare the cultivated.
For these there is hope.
They are the elect to whom beautiful things
mean only Beauty.
There is no such thing as a moral or an
immoral book.Books are well written, or badly written. That is all. The nineteenth century dislike of Realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass.
The nineteenth century dislike of
Romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass. The moral life of man forms part of the
subject-matter of the artist, but the morality
of art consists in the perfect use of an im-
perfect medium.
No artist desires to prove anything. Even things that are true can be proved.
No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathyin an artist is an un- pardonable mannerism of style.
No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything.
Thought and language are to the artist
instruments of an art. Vice and virtue are to the artist materials
for an art.From the point of view of form, the type of allthe arts is the art of the musician. From thepoint of view of feeling, the actor’s craft is thetype.
All art is at once surface and
symbol.
Those who go beneath the surface do so at
their peril.
Those who read the symbol do so at
their peril.It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.
Diversity of opinion about a work of art
shows that the work is new, complex, and
vital. When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself.We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. Theonly excuse for making a useless thing is thatone admires it intensely.
All art is quite useless.
i don’t read books sorry
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Cannot focus on anything for some reason.
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Help. Even i cant read this.pls help meee😭👍
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Soooo I read it wrong I got a .100%
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dear alpha bro christians,
let’s get one thing straight: christ did not die for your sins just so you can go around telling men that doing skin care, wearing exfoliating face masks, or doing hair care routines is “effeminate” and “gay” (as if those are bad things anyway).
who got oiled up with the boys? christ. who did regular meditation? christ. who got his feet washed in lavish perfume? christ! dude is literally the originator of the phrase “my body is a temple”. so guess which bro would also actually be super stoked that you’re taking good care of said temple? hmmm? yeah, next time learn to read dude. calling something your favourite book and then avoiding all the pictures is kinda sus.
sincerely,
me
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this is my roman empire. and after all these years, i finally have to say something.
GRUNT-WHIMPER??? GRUNT-WHIMPER!!!!???
ANNABETH GIRL ARE YOU OKAY??
forget her just standing there gasping for air. forget her very audible sigh. forget the fact that annabeth initiates 80% of their kisses and literally has to restrain herself from kissing him in front of all of New Rome in MoA. i could go on and on about how many times percy calls her beautiful and attractive (let’s not forget how his heart races and his skin tingles at her touch) and all his boyfriend-ly thoughts about her, but lets focus on annabeth for a sec. BECAUSE ANNABETH CHASE IS GRUNT-WHIMPERING??
our girl was feeling ALL the things in this scene. she’s so weak in the knees for him that she can’t even hide it in front of piper. also percy must be a fantastic kisser? BECAUSE GRUNT-WHIMPER??
do not EVER tell me percy and annabeth don’t have romantic feelings for each other. do not EVER tell me it’s purely platonic. if you’re someone who thinks “nah i can’t see them getting married and having kids cause i don’t think they feel that way about each other” you clearly did not read about the grunt-whimper (well, you can hc whatever you want. i respect all opinions. but i do think you need to re-consider and account for the grunt-whimper)
BECAUSE GRUNT-WHIMPER?? ONE GOOD KISS FROM PERCY IS MAKING ANNABETH CHASE GRUNT-WHIMPER?? IS THAT RICK’S “CHILD-APPROPRIATE” WAY OF SAYING SHE MOANED?? HE SHOULD HAVE JUST SAID SHE MOANED. GRUNT-WHIMPER IS SO MUCH WORSE. THAT GOES SO FAR BEYOND A MOAN. A MOAN IS TAME COMPARED TO A GRUNT-WHIMPER.
GUYS I-
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Was looking for a book today when I saw these various animal books all on the same shelf and noticed their titles made a nice little impromptu poem about veterinary medicine
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The world needs more Yue and Zuko friendship, I squeal just thinking abt the parallels. They deserve a life changing field trip together and if u have abt ideas I’m all ears 👀
Hiii anon this ask fermented in my inbox and in my brain for so long,, so take this??? Post canon yue lives/no war au arts?? Anyway aside from the Parallels and their political position & their duty before hoes grindset I think they could learn a lot from each other. With zuko learning the gift of patience & diplomacy from yue & Yue learning that allowing yourself to feel anger and speaking up can actually be Good.
anyway hypothetical life changing trip outcome: zuko takes an intro gender studies class and yue says fuck
(oh and also must not forget the crush on sokka)
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