Overview
The purpose of Beautiful Books is to promote and celebrate beautiful art. We want to remind each other that culture can lift and inspire, inform and transform. Goodness, beauty and truth exist. Let’s join together to rediscover what this is.
Details
We are simply offering basic principles of meaningful art – not providing a list of works that we condemn or commend. That will always be subjective, and should be entirely up to individuals. Our goal is simply to provide a public forum for the shared attempt at discovering meaningful art.
We seek only obvious, self-evident principles that anyone would agree to. We invite all to contribute any piece they think meets these principles.
Beautiful Books is a counterpart to Banned Books. Instead of selecting works because they had been banned, Beautiful Books has readings, discussion and performances of works that are considered beautiful by members.
Beautiful Books supports works of art that express the deeper dimensions of our humanity. There is no limit to beauty, in the natural world, or even, potentially, in society. But beauty is adrift, under assault, in need of a friend. Let us be a friend to beauty. Freedom of the expression of ideas is always valid, but we also need to know what is especially worthy of being expressed.
By joining the steps below members can help plan and stage the very first Beautiful Books event. In addition they can use Visionary Society Challenges and Requests to encourage wider participation and awareness. Hopefully this will become an annual occurrence and grow to multiple locations.
There should be a central location for the event, possibly at the public library. There could also be a gathering in the main city public square, and secondary events in cafes and theaters. In addition to public readings and performances, we present Challenges and Requests: a way for individuals and businesses to make significant choices to bring meaningful culture into the world.
We seek only obvious, self-evident principles that anyone would agree to. We invite all to contribute any piece they think meets these principles.
Beautiful Books is a counterpart to Banned Books. Instead of selecting works because they had been banned, Beautiful Books has readings, discussion and performances of works that are considered beautiful by members.
Beautiful Books supports works of art that express the deeper dimensions of our humanity. There is no limit to beauty, in the natural world, or even, potentially, in society. But beauty is adrift, under assault, in need of a friend. Let us be a friend to beauty. Freedom of the expression of ideas is always valid, but we also need to know what is especially worthy of being expressed.
By joining the steps below members can help plan and stage the very first Beautiful Books event. In addition they can use Visionary Society Challenges and Requests to encourage wider participation and awareness. Hopefully this will become an annual occurrence and grow to multiple locations.
There should be a central location for the event, possibly at the public library. There could also be a gathering in the main city public square, and secondary events in cafes and theaters. In addition to public readings and performances, we present Challenges and Requests: a way for individuals and businesses to make significant choices to bring meaningful culture into the world.
Origin of the idea
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Resources
agree with website here these details http://ocenkapnz.ru/
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agree with website here these details http://ocenkapnz.ru/
agree with website here these details http://ocenkapnz.ru/
agree with website here these details http://ocenkapnz.ru/
“Artists play a distinctive role in challenging authoritarianism. Art creates pathways for subversion, for political understanding and solidarity among coalition builders... Artists who occupy marginalized social positions can use their art to challenge structures of power."
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“Artists play a distinctive role in challenging authoritarianism. Art creates pathways for subversion, for political understanding and solidarity among coalition builders... Artists who occupy marginalized social positions can use their art to challenge structures of power."
Why Authoritarians Attack the Arts
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/opinion/why-authoritarians-attack-the-arts.html
By Eve L. Ewing, April 6, 2017, NYT
As Hitler understood, artists play a distinctive role in challenging authoritarianism. Art creates pathways for subversion, for political understanding and solidarity among coalition builders. Art teaches us that lives other than our own have value. Like the proverbial court jester who can openly mock the king in his own court, artists who occupy marginalized social positions can use their art to challenge structures of power in ways that would otherwise be dangerous or impossible.
It’s about control. It’s about creating a society where propaganda reigns and dissent is silenced.
We need the arts because they make us full human beings. But we also need the arts as a protective factor against authoritarianism. In saving the arts, we save ourselves from a society where creative production is permissible only insofar as it serves the instruments of power.
Why Authoritarians Attack the Arts
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/opinion/why-authoritarians-attack-the-arts.html
By Eve L. Ewing, April 6, 2017, NYT
As Hitler understood, artists play a distinctive role in challenging authoritarianism. Art creates pathways for subversion, for political understanding and solidarity among coalition builders. Art teaches us that lives other than our own have value. Like the proverbial court jester who can openly mock the king in his own court, artists who occupy marginalized social positions can use their art to challenge structures of power in ways that would otherwise be dangerous or impossible.
It’s about control. It’s about creating a society where propaganda reigns and dissent is silenced.
We need the arts because they make us full human beings. But we also need the arts as a protective factor against authoritarianism. In saving the arts, we save ourselves from a society where creative production is permissible only insofar as it serves the instruments of power.
Beautiful Books Goals
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Beautiful Books Goals
Stand up for the idea that beauty, good and truth still exists, and begin to understand what that is
Develop the ability to discriminate between destructive, meaningful and beautiful art, without being prejudiced
Demonstrate that it is possible to stand up for principles without being self-righteous or divisive
Fight destructive, superficial, and nihilistic culture
Find something good, true or beautiful
Show how this is broken and how it can be aspired to or achieved.
This is the last, hardest and most important Beautiful Books goal!
Stand up for the idea that beauty, good and truth still exists, and begin to understand what that is
Develop the ability to discriminate between destructive, meaningful and beautiful art, without being prejudiced
Demonstrate that it is possible to stand up for principles without being self-righteous or divisive
Fight destructive, superficial, and nihilistic culture
Find something good, true or beautiful
Show how this is broken and how it can be aspired to or achieved.
This is the last, hardest and most important Beautiful Books goal!
"Here are enshrined the longing of great hearts
And noble things that tower above the tide
The magic word that winged wonder starts
The garnered wisdom that has never died"
Brooklyn Public Library
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And noble things that tower above the tide
The magic word that winged wonder starts
The garnered wisdom that has never died"
Brooklyn Public Library
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Resource in "Is a more beautiful culture possible?"
"Here are enshrined the longing of great hearts
And noble things that tower above the tide
The magic word that winged wonder starts
The garnered wisdom that has never died"
Brooklyn Public Library
It almost went without saying, not long ago, that popular culture should involve goodness, beauty, and other virtues. Here is proof of that: inscriptions on major public facilities.
New York Public Library
“A good Booke is the pretious life-blood of a master spirit, imbalm’d and treasur’d up on purpose to a life beyond life.” Sign over the entrance to the New York Public Library reading room.
Portland Public Library steps
"Begin, Experience, Seek, Hope, Explore, Dream, Inquire, Imagine, Discover, Create, Transcend, Become."
The Nobel prize
“To the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work of an idealist tendency.”
Alfred Nobel’s will established in 1896 a prize for literary achievement.
And noble things that tower above the tide
The magic word that winged wonder starts
The garnered wisdom that has never died"
Brooklyn Public Library
It almost went without saying, not long ago, that popular culture should involve goodness, beauty, and other virtues. Here is proof of that: inscriptions on major public facilities.
New York Public Library
“A good Booke is the pretious life-blood of a master spirit, imbalm’d and treasur’d up on purpose to a life beyond life.” Sign over the entrance to the New York Public Library reading room.
Portland Public Library steps
"Begin, Experience, Seek, Hope, Explore, Dream, Inquire, Imagine, Discover, Create, Transcend, Become."
The Nobel prize
“To the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work of an idealist tendency.”
Alfred Nobel’s will established in 1896 a prize for literary achievement.
Initial thoughts on how to create a framework for supporting beautiful art and culture
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Initial thoughts on how to create a framework for supporting beautiful art and culture
The main value of art lies beyond itself. Art for its own sake, unaware of its effects, is potentially dangerous. It is quite possible that works of art can injure or shatter a person’s spirit. That is why we need a framework for making sense of art and culture, for judging art and holding accountable artists and those who support art for the ramifications of what they are doing.
How do you know the power of a work of art? We can establish guidelines, but everyone has to do the work themselves. You must try to sense the effect, what it does to you and how it makes you feel. Does it inflame your ego? Does it magnify what is fleeting? Does it make you compare yourself to something inane? Or does it recognize the part of you that you admire?
It's not easy, but it's necessary. There are great dangers along this bath (bigotry, ideology, etc). It's not a framework but a journey, in which we agree to aspire to, to look for, focusing and elaborating, implications and [the good]. But our hope is to actually create a culture of care – by standing up for the good, true, beautiful, and sacred, and making artistic creativity of this kind a part of daily life.
High level
Explores conundrums, mysteries.
Expresses these transcendent qualities: beauty, truth, good, love, and the sacred.
Nourishes these personal qualities: Purity, depth, inwardness, awareness, holiness, integrity, honesty, faith, compassion, commitment, care, autonomy.
Effect: Recognizes your whole self, and calls you to your higher nature.
(They also oppose superficiality, degradation, and manipulation.)
Mediocre level
Works as entertainment. Delight, gratitude, tell a story, support, console
Superficial
Vulgar
Magnification of the profane, superficial, and material. Life is entertainment, and art is distraction from what is transcendent and eternal. Ignorant, one-sided, and ideological.
Personal qualities: Greed, narcissism, self-interest, hard-heartedness, isolation, and sanctimony.
Effect: Diminishes the ability to perceive realities outside of oneself. Insensitivity.
Low level
Degenerate
Appeals to these realities: the ugly, the false, hatred, and evil.
Magnifies these personal qualities: bigotry, destructiveness, and sadism.
Effect: Destruction of the capacity to see what is good: Degradation and nihilism.
‘Superstition, witch hunts, torture, and a multitude of other forms of cruelty or traditional folly.’ Schweitzer
The main value of art lies beyond itself. Art for its own sake, unaware of its effects, is potentially dangerous. It is quite possible that works of art can injure or shatter a person’s spirit. That is why we need a framework for making sense of art and culture, for judging art and holding accountable artists and those who support art for the ramifications of what they are doing.
How do you know the power of a work of art? We can establish guidelines, but everyone has to do the work themselves. You must try to sense the effect, what it does to you and how it makes you feel. Does it inflame your ego? Does it magnify what is fleeting? Does it make you compare yourself to something inane? Or does it recognize the part of you that you admire?
It's not easy, but it's necessary. There are great dangers along this bath (bigotry, ideology, etc). It's not a framework but a journey, in which we agree to aspire to, to look for, focusing and elaborating, implications and [the good]. But our hope is to actually create a culture of care – by standing up for the good, true, beautiful, and sacred, and making artistic creativity of this kind a part of daily life.
High level
Explores conundrums, mysteries.
Expresses these transcendent qualities: beauty, truth, good, love, and the sacred.
Nourishes these personal qualities: Purity, depth, inwardness, awareness, holiness, integrity, honesty, faith, compassion, commitment, care, autonomy.
Effect: Recognizes your whole self, and calls you to your higher nature.
(They also oppose superficiality, degradation, and manipulation.)
Mediocre level
Works as entertainment. Delight, gratitude, tell a story, support, console
Superficial
Vulgar
Magnification of the profane, superficial, and material. Life is entertainment, and art is distraction from what is transcendent and eternal. Ignorant, one-sided, and ideological.
Personal qualities: Greed, narcissism, self-interest, hard-heartedness, isolation, and sanctimony.
Effect: Diminishes the ability to perceive realities outside of oneself. Insensitivity.
Low level
Degenerate
Appeals to these realities: the ugly, the false, hatred, and evil.
Magnifies these personal qualities: bigotry, destructiveness, and sadism.
Effect: Destruction of the capacity to see what is good: Degradation and nihilism.
‘Superstition, witch hunts, torture, and a multitude of other forms of cruelty or traditional folly.’ Schweitzer
“Watching a bad TV program, we the TV program. We are what we feel and perceive. If we are angry, we are the anger. If we are in love, we are love. If we look at a snow-covered mountain peak, we are the mountain...
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“Watching a bad TV program, we the TV program. We are what we feel and perceive. If we are angry, we are the anger. If we are in love, we are love. If we look at a snow-covered mountain peak, we are the mountain...
"We can be anything we want, so why do we open our windows to bad TV programs made by sensationalist producers in search of easy money, programs that make our hearts pound, our fists tighten, and leave us exhausted. Who allows such TV programs to be made and seen by even the very young? We do! We are too undemanding, too ready to watch whatever is on the screen, too lonely, lazy, or bored to create our own lives. We turn on the TV and leave it on, allowing someone else to guide us, shape us, and destroy us. Losing ourselves in this way is leaving our fate in the hands of others who may not be acting responsibly. We must be aware of which programs do harm to our nervous system, minds, and hearts, and which programs benefit us.”
“Of course, I am not talking only about television. All around us, how many lures are set by our fellow and ourselves?....
“We must be very careful to protect our fate and our peace….With the sun of awareness shining in us, we can avoid most dangers….” Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step
"We can be anything we want, so why do we open our windows to bad TV programs made by sensationalist producers in search of easy money, programs that make our hearts pound, our fists tighten, and leave us exhausted. Who allows such TV programs to be made and seen by even the very young? We do! We are too undemanding, too ready to watch whatever is on the screen, too lonely, lazy, or bored to create our own lives. We turn on the TV and leave it on, allowing someone else to guide us, shape us, and destroy us. Losing ourselves in this way is leaving our fate in the hands of others who may not be acting responsibly. We must be aware of which programs do harm to our nervous system, minds, and hearts, and which programs benefit us.”
“Of course, I am not talking only about television. All around us, how many lures are set by our fellow and ourselves?....
“We must be very careful to protect our fate and our peace….With the sun of awareness shining in us, we can avoid most dangers….” Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step
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Thelocation3 is a website that collects opinions from webmasters/bloggers/business owners for Bing, Bluehost, etc.
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Thelocation3 is a website that collects opinions from webmasters/bloggers/business owners for Bing, Bluehost, etc.
We are looking for people like you to test our website.
They spend *,000,000,000 dollars each year collecting data, and then improving their products.
Thelocation3 pays to each member $ *** daily for their opinions.
Interested? Click here: https://www.thelocation3.com/paidsurvey
Looking forward to hearing from you,
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Hi,
Thelocation3 is a website that collects opinions from webmasters/bloggers/business owners for Bing, Bluehost, etc.
We are looking for people like you to test our website.
They spend *,000,000,000 dollars each year collecting data, and then improving their products.
Thelocation3 pays to each member $ *** daily for their opinions.
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Thelocation3 is a website that collects opinions from webmasters/bloggers/business owners for Bing, Bluehost, etc.
We are looking for people like you to test our website.
They spend *,000,000,000 dollars each year collecting data, and then improving their products.
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