#samuel holt monk

[blackmensuited]

[yee-jing-blog]

Graceful

“It is said to be more easily felt than know, its nature being incomprehensible and inexplicable; the heart instinctively perceives it; without it all attractive qualities are lifeless; it is, in short, charm or grace.” Bouhours’ Les Entretiens d’Ariste et d’Eugene(1971) in A Grace Beyond the Reach of Art (1994).

Based on Cambridge Dictionary, graceful means displaying a form or action in an elegant and smooth way. It is pleasing and relaxing to look at.

From my understanding of both explanation, I think graceful is pleasing to look at and understand by heart or instinct rather than by knowledge. It is hard to describe as it is like a feeling that comes out when we interact with the object.

1)  Monk, Samuel Holt. “‘A Grace Beyond the Reach of Art.’” Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 5, no. 2, 1944, pp. 131–150. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2707381.