A thoughtful comment on the nature of beauty.  I like the idea that it is a denial of the average and is only possible with exceptionalism.  I don’t know if this is true, but it resonates with me. 

And the innate sense of its own worth, without the need for external validation.  I admit, it’s how I feel about my websites, our garden, my book, at least in aspiration.  It’s wonderful if people like them, but I’d do them anyway, even if they aren’t awash with admirers. 

(That said, thank you for being here, please come again). 

And the wholly done thing, driving to fulfil itself by a powerful and commanding sense of its own value, will always be at the root of the beautiful landscape, the beautiful painting or the beautiful piece of music. Beauty is not based on consensus. Beauty would be impossible without exceptionalism, a denial of the average. It stands out for its own idea of itself.  That is not the only ingredient, but is certainly a necessary part of it. 

Source: Adam Nicolson, Sissinghurst: An unfinished history (London: Harper Press, 2009), pp. 303-04

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