When a man raises it to a solitary pre-eminence and becomes incapable of appreciating anything else, he betrays the decay of aesthetic capacity.
 George Santayana, The Sense of Beauty (1896). copy citation

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Author George Santayana
Source The Sense of Beauty
Topic aesthetics decay
Date 1896
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26842/26842-h/26842-h.htm

Context

“We learn to value truth more and more as our love and knowledge of nature increase. But fidelity is a merit only because it is in this way a factor in our pleasure. It stands on a level with all other ingredients of effect. When a man raises it to a solitary pre-eminence and becomes incapable of appreciating anything else, he betrays the decay of aesthetic capacity. The scientific habit in him inhibits the artistic. That facts have a value of their own, at once complicates and explains this question. We are naturally pleased by every perception, and recognition and surprise are particularly acute sensations.” source