And the true order of going, or being led by another, to the things of love, is to begin from the beauties of earth and mount upwards for the sake of that other beauty, using these steps only, and from one going on to two, and from two to all fair forms to fair practices, and from fair practices to fair notions, until from fair notions he arrives at the notion of absolute beauty, and at last knows what the essence of beauty is.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Love begins with earthly beauty and ascends to understanding absolute beauty through reasoned steps.
- In plain terms
- Start with physical beauty to reach higher understanding of beauty.
- What can you take from it?
- Beauty leads from physical to spiritual understanding.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do you reach higher beauty?
- What is absolute beauty?
Another view
Physical beauty may not always lead to higher truth.
More from Plato
The eyes which are the windows of the soul.
Permalink to quote #7 Beholding beauty with the eye of the mind, he will be enabled to bring forth, not images of beauty, but realities (for he has hold not of an image but of a rea…
Permalink to quote #9 Friends have all things in common.
Permalink to quote #6
Related quotes
Science is the language of the Temporal world, Love is that of the Spiritual world. Thus man takes note of more than he is able to explain, while the Angelic S…
Honore de BalzacHonore de Balzac quote #63 Generally speaking, the significance of the indirect results may very often be of more importance than the significance of direct ones. And since we are able t…
P. D. OuspenskyP. D. Ouspensky quote #1 The three eldest children of Necessity: God, the World and love.
Richard GarnettRichard Garnett quote #1