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The human soul needs actual beauty more than bread.
D. H. Lawrence
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote suggests that aesthetic beauty is essential for the soul's nourishment, perhaps even more than physical sustenance.

D. H. Lawrence emphasizes the importance of beauty in human life, arguing that the soul requires aesthetic experiences as a form of nourishment that is as vital as food. This perspective highlights the idea that while physical needs are important, the emotional and spiritual aspects of life, represented by beauty, are equally critical for overall well-being and fulfillment.

Themes

BeautySoulNourishmentImportanceLife

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a speech about the value of art in society.

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God how I hate new countries: They are older than the old, more sophisticated, much more conceited, only young in a certain puerile vanity more like senility than anything.
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And besides, look at elder flowers and bluebells-they are a sign that pure creation takes place - even the butterfly. But humanity never gets beyond the caterpillar stage -it rots in the chrysalis, it never will have wings.It is anti-creation, like monkeys and baboons.
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The Christian fear of the pagan outlook has damaged the whole consciousness of man.
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The cosmos is a vast living body, of which we are still parts. The sun is a great heart whose tremors run through our smallest veins. The moon is a great nerve center from which we quiver forever. Who knows the power that Saturn has over us, or Venus? But it is a vital power, rippling exquisitely through us all the time.
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... he preferred his own madness, to the regular sanity. He rejoiced in his own madness, he was free. He did not want that old sanity of the world, which was become so repulsive. He rejoiced in the new-found world of his madness. It was so fresh and delicate and so satisfying.
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