Harmony

Harmony

Harmony is that which makes beauty, beauty in itself has no meaning. An object which is called beautiful at one time or place may not be beautiful at another. And so it is with thought, speech, and action. That which is called beautiful is only so at a certain time and under certain conditions which make it beautiful; so if one could give a true definition of beauty it is harmony. Harmony in a combination of colors, harmony in the drawing of a design or a line, that is what is called beauty; and a word, a thought, a feeling, or an action which creates harmony is productive of beauty.

Whence came the tendency towards harmony and whence comes the tendency towards inharmony? The natural tendency of every soul is towards harmony, and the tendency towards inharmony is an unnatural state of mind or affairs; the very fact that it is not natural makes it devoid of beauty. The psychology of man is such that he responds both to harmony and inharmony. He cannot help it, because he is naturally so made; mentally and physically he responds to all that comes to him whether it be harmonious or inharmonious.

Where does all the great unrest and discord that one now sees pervading the world come from? It seems that it comes from the ignorance of this fact that inharmony creates inharmony, and that inharmony will multiply. If a person is insulted his natural tendency is to reply by insulting the other person still more. In this way he gets the momentary satisfaction of having given a good answer. But he has responded to that power which came from the other, and these two powers, being negative and positive, create more inharmony.