race-ideal

Updated: July 20, 2026

Now, the artists of one civilization only the Greeks were able to perform the miracle of disengaging the Race-Ideal of beauty from their own souls, and fixing its wavering out-line in jewel and stone. Nudity, they made divine; and they still compel us to feel its divinity almost as they felt it themselves. Perhaps they could do this because, as Emerson suggested, they possessed all-perfect senses.

Lafcadio Hearn - Kokoro : Japanese Inner Life Hints