How to understand beauty will save the world. Dostoevsky about beauty and salvation

“... what is beauty and why do people deify it? Is she a vessel, in which there is emptiness, or fire, flickering in a vessel? So wrote the poet N. Zabolotsky in the poem "Beauty will save the world." And the catchphrase in the title is known to almost every person. She probably touched her ears more than once beautiful women and girls, flying from the lips of men fascinated by their beauty.

This wonderful expression belongs to the famous Russian writer F. M. Dostoevsky. In his novel "The Idiot", the writer endows his hero, Prince Myshkin, with thoughts and reasoning about beauty and its essence. The work does not indicate how Myshkin himself says that beauty will save the world. These words belong to him, but they sound indirectly: “Is it true, prince,” Ippolit asks Myshkin, “that “beauty” will save the world? Gentlemen,” he shouted loudly to everyone, “the prince says that beauty will save the world!” Elsewhere in the novel, during the prince’s meeting with Aglaya, she tells him, as if warning him: “Listen, once for all, if you talk about something like the death penalty, or about the economic state of Russia, or that “beauty will save the world ", then ... I, of course, will rejoice and laugh very much, but ... I warn you in advance: do not appear before my eyes later! Listen: I'm serious! This time I'm being serious!"

How to understand the famous saying about beauty?

"Beauty will save the world." How is the statement? This question can be asked by a student of any age, regardless of the class in which he is studying. And each parent will answer this question in a completely different way, absolutely individually. Because beauty is perceived and seen differently for everyone.

Everyone probably knows the saying that you can look at objects together, but see them in completely different ways. After reading Dostoevsky's novel, a feeling of some ambiguity about what beauty is is formed inside. “Beauty will save the world,” Dostoevsky uttered these words on behalf of the hero as his own understanding of the way to save the fussy and mortal world. Nevertheless, the author gives the opportunity to answer this question to each reader independently. "Beauty" in the novel is presented as an unsolved riddle created by nature, and as a force that can drive you crazy. Prince Myshkin also sees the simplicity of beauty and its refined splendor, he says that there are many things in the world at every turn so beautiful in which even the most lost person can see their splendor. He asks to look at the child, at the dawn, at the grass, into loving and looking at you eyes .... Indeed, it is difficult to imagine our modern world without mysterious and sudden natural phenomena, without the gaze of a loved one that attracts like a magnet, without the love of parents for children and children to their parents.

What then is worth living and where to draw your strength?

How to imagine the world without this enchanting beauty of every moment of life? It's just not possible. The existence of mankind is unthinkable without it. Almost every person doing everyday work or any other burdensome business, I thought more than once that in the usual bustle of life, as if carelessly, almost without noticing, I missed something very important, did not have time to notice the beauty of moments. Nevertheless, beauty has a certain divine origin, it expresses the true essence of the Creator, giving everyone the opportunity to join Him and be like Him.

Believers comprehend beauty through communication through prayers with the Lord, through the contemplation of the world created by Him and through the improvement of their human essence. Of course, a Christian's understanding and vision of beauty will differ from the usual ideas of people who profess another religion. But somewhere between these ideological contradictions, there is still that thin thread that connects everyone into one whole. In this divine unity, too, lies the silent beauty of harmony.

Tolstoy on beauty

Beauty will save the world... Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich expressed his opinion on this matter in the work "War and Peace". All phenomena and objects present in the world around us, the writer mentally divides into two main categories: this is content or form. The division occurs depending on the greater predominance of objects and phenomena of these elements in nature.

The writer does not give preference to phenomena and people with the presence of the main thing in them in the form of form. Therefore, in his novel, he so clearly demonstrates dislike for high society with his forever established norms and rules of life and the lack of sympathy for Helen Bezukhova, who, according to the text of the work, everyone considered unusually beautiful.

Society and public opinion do not have any influence on his personal attitude towards people and life. The writer looks at the content. This is important for his perception, and it is this that awakens interest in his heart. He does not recognize the lack of movement and life in the shell of luxury, but he endlessly admires the imperfection of Natasha Rostova and the ugliness of Maria Bolkonskaya. Based on the opinion of the great writer, is it possible to assert that beauty will save the world?

Lord Byron on the splendor of beauty

For another famous, true, Lord Byron, beauty is seen as a pernicious gift. He considers her as capable of seducing, intoxicating and committing atrocity with a person. But this is not entirely true, beauty has a dual nature. And it is better for us, people, to notice not its perniciousness and deceit, but a life-giving force capable of healing our heart, mind and body. Indeed, in many respects our health and correct perception of the picture of the world develops as a result of our direct mental attitude to things.

And yet, will beauty save the world?

Our modern world, in which there are so many social contradictions and heterogeneities... A world in which there are rich and poor, healthy and sick, happy and unhappy, free and dependent... And that, despite all the hardships, beauty will save the world? Maybe you are right. But beauty should not be understood literally, not as an outward expression of a bright natural individuality or grooming, but as an opportunity to do beautiful noble deeds, helping these other people, and how to look not at a person, but at his beautiful and rich in content. inner world. Very often in our lives we pronounce the usual words “beauty”, “beautiful”, or simply “beautiful”.

Beauty as an evaluation material of the surrounding world. How to understand: "Beauty will save the world" - what is the meaning of the statement?

All interpretations of the word “beauty”, which is the original source for other words derived from it, endow the speaker with an unusual ability to evaluate the phenomena of the world around us in an almost simplest way, the ability to admire works of literature, art, music; the desire to compliment the other person. So many pleasant moments, hidden in only one word of seven letters!

Everyone has their own definition of beauty.

Of course, beauty is understood by each individual in his own way, and each generation has its own criteria for beauty. There is nothing wrong. Everyone has long known that thanks to the contradictions and disputes between people, generations and nations, only truth can be born. People by nature are absolutely different in terms of attitude and worldview. For one, it is good and beautiful when he is simply neatly and fashionably dressed, for another it is bad to go in cycles only in appearance, he prefers to develop his own and increase his intellectual level. Everything that somehow relates to the understanding of beauty sounds from the lips of everyone, based on his personal perception of the surrounding reality. Romantic and sensual natures most often admire the phenomena and objects created by nature. The freshness of the air after the rain, the autumn leaf that has fallen from the branches, the fire of the fire and the clear mountain stream - all this is a beauty that is worth constantly enjoying. For more practical natures, based on objects and phenomena of the material world, beauty can be the result, for example, of an important deal concluded or the completion of a certain series of construction works. A child will be incredibly pleased with beautiful and bright toys, a woman will be delighted with a beautiful jewelry, and the man will see the beauty in the new alloy wheels on his car. It seems like one word, but how many concepts, how many different perceptions!

The depth of the simple word "beauty"

Beauty can also be viewed from a deep point of view. “Beauty will save the world” - an essay on this topic can be written by everyone in completely different ways. And there will be a lot of opinions about the beauty of life.

Some people really believe that the world rests on beauty, while others will say: “Beauty will save the world? Who told you such nonsense?" You will answer: “Like who? Russian great writer Dostoevsky in his famous literary work"Moron"!" And in response to you: “Well, so what, maybe then beauty saved the world, but now the main thing is different!” And, perhaps, they will even name what is most important for them. And that's all - it makes no sense to prove your idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe beautiful. Because you can, you see it, and your interlocutor, due to his education, social status, age, gender or other racial affiliation, never noticed or thought about the presence of beauty in this or that object or phenomenon.

Finally

Beauty will save the world, and we, in turn, must be able to save it. The main thing is not to destroy, but to preserve the beauty of the world, its objects and phenomena given by the Creator. Enjoy every moment and the opportunity to see and feel the beauty as if it were your last moment of life. And then you won’t even have a question: “Why will beauty save the world?” The answer will be clear as a matter of course.

There is such a popular expression - "Beauty will save the world." Is it so?
And was the Greek philosopher Aristotle right with his famous aphorism: "Physical beauty is better than any letter of recommendation."

Let's start, perhaps, with the advantages of physical beauty, which clearly confirm the statement of Aristotle.
A physically beautiful person acts hypnotically on the consciousness of those around him, that is, his beauty is perceived without any critical reflection, falling into a hypnotic trance and attributing all socially positive properties to a beautiful person. The power of one's own illusory perception that suppresses any critical and logical comprehension comes into play - if you like a person, then he is necessarily “very good”!

Experimental psychological studies, in which subjects were shown photographs of various people, revealed the following pattern - physically attractive faces invariably received most of the positive characteristics, they were regarded as more interesting, smart, balanced, sympathetic, kind and sociable than the rest. Although many of these qualities do not have any close connection with the appearance.

There is a stereotype in the mass consciousness that physically attractive people are more likely to achieve success in their careers and happiness in their personal lives. Beauties and handsome men allegedly have more chances to get a good job, are promoted faster, win various competitions more often, receive various awards and grants, and they are often subject to lighter penalties for breaking the law.
In short, they are always automatically awarded points for beauty.
But is it?

It's time to move on to the disadvantages of physical beauty!
First of all, it should be noted that beautiful people do not cause such a strong amazement in others at the second meeting. After all, the physical beauty of a person is obvious and is its decoration, and sometimes its only advantage, in the absence of other advantages, the development of which is very often suppressed in beautiful people by the halo effect of external attractiveness. The surrounding people get used to the appearance and stop falling into a hypnotic trance, they begin to look for other personality traits besides beauty. And beauties and handsome men very often do not consider it necessary to show their other virtues, and develop them, for the most part they are sure that it is enough that they are beautiful and admire others.
And under this admiration, you can get everything from life!

That is, beautiful people are in captivity of their own illusions that their physical beauty automatically guarantees them complete happiness, while forgetting:
- that others get used to their beauty and do not notice it with such enthusiasm as they would like - everything becomes ordinary if it is repeated too often;
- that others can be envious of someone else's success and strive to destroy this success, it's not for nothing that there is such a technique of influencing people - start praising someone else's beauty and its owners will receive such a negative perception of their own physical attractiveness and the superiority associated with this fact that life will no longer seem like honey to them !
- that beauty most often causes in other people the desire to possess this beauty, that is, physically possess it, and to have this beauty for themselves as an object of luxury and vanity.

So will beauty save the world?

And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.
/ Gen. 1.31/

It is human nature to appreciate beauty. The human soul needs beauty and seeks it. All human culture is permeated with the search for beauty. The Bible also testifies that beauty lay at the heart of the world and man was originally involved in it. Expulsion from paradise is an image of lost beauty, a person's rupture with beauty and truth. Once having lost his heritage, man yearns to regain it. Human history can be presented as a path from lost beauty to sought after beauty, on this path a person realizes himself as a participant in Divine creation. Leaving the beautiful Garden of Eden, symbolizing its pure natural state before the fall, a person returns to the garden city - Heavenly Jerusalem, " new, coming down from God, out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband» (Rev. 21.2). And this last image is the image of the future beauty, about which it is said: eye has not seen, ear has not heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him.» (1 Cor. 2.9).

All of God's creation is originally beautiful. God admired His creation at various stages of its creation. " And God saw that it was good”- these words are repeated in the 1st chapter of the book of Genesis 7 times and they clearly have an aesthetic character. This is where the Bible begins and ends with the revelation of a new heaven and a new earth (Rev. 21:1). The Apostle John says that " the world lies in evil”(1 John 5.19), thus emphasizing that the world is not evil in itself, but that the evil that entered the world has distorted its beauty. And at the end of time, the true beauty of God's creation will shine - purified, saved, transfigured.

The concept of beauty always includes the concepts of harmony, perfection, purity, and for the Christian worldview, good is certainly included in this series. The separation of ethics and aesthetics occurred already in modern times, when culture underwent secularization, and the integrity of the Christian worldview was lost. Pushkin's question about the compatibility of genius and villainy was already born in a divided world, for which Christian values ​​are not obvious. A century later, this question sounds like a statement: “aesthetics of the ugly”, “theater of the absurd”, “harmony of destruction”, “cult of violence”, etc. — these are the aesthetic coordinates that define the culture of the 20th century. Breaking aesthetic ideals with ethical roots leads to anti-aesthetics. But even in the midst of decay, the human soul does not cease to strive for beauty. The famous Chekhovian maxim “everything in a person should be beautiful ...” is nothing but nostalgia for the integrity of the Christian understanding of beauty and the unity of the image. The dead ends and tragedies of the modern search for beauty lie in the complete loss of value orientations, in the oblivion of the sources of beauty.

Beauty is an ontological category in the Christian understanding, it is inextricably linked with the meaning of being. Beauty is rooted in God. From this it follows that there is only one beauty - True Beauty, God Himself. And every earthly beauty is only an image that reflects the Primary Source to a greater or lesser extent.

« In the beginning was the Word… through Him everything came into being, and without Him nothing came into being that came into being» (John 1.1-3). Word, Inexpressible Logos, Mind, Meaning, etc. - this concept has a huge synonymous series. Somewhere in this series, the amazing word “image” finds its place, without which it is impossible to comprehend the true meaning of Beauty. Word and Image have one source, in their ontological depth they are identical.

The image in Greek is εικων (eikon). Hence comes and Russian word"icon". But just as we distinguish between the Word and words, we should also distinguish between the Image and images, in a narrower sense - icons (in Russian vernacular, the name of icons, “image”, was not accidentally preserved). Without understanding the meaning of the Image, we cannot understand the meaning of the icon, its place, its role, its meaning.

God creates the world through the Word, He Himself is the Word that came into the world. God also creates the world by giving an image to everything. He Himself, having no image, is the prototype of everything in the world. Everything that exists in the world exists due to the fact that it carries the Image of God. The Russian word “ugly” is a synonym for the word “ugly”, meaning nothing more than “shapeless”, that is, not having the Image of God in itself, non-essential, non-existent, dead. The whole world is permeated with the Word and the whole world is filled with the Image of God, our world is iconological.

God's creation can be imagined as a ladder of images that, like mirrors, reflect each other and, ultimately, God as the Prototype. The symbol of the stairs (in the old Russian version - “ladders”) is traditional for the Christian picture of the world, starting from the ladder of Jacob (Gen. 28.12) and up to the “Ladder” of the Sinai Abbot John, nicknamed “The Ladder”. The symbol of the mirror is also well known - we meet it, for example, in the Apostle Paul, who speaks of knowledge like this: now we see how through a dull glass, guessingly"(1 Cor. 13.12), which in the Greek text is expressed as follows:" like a mirror in divination". Thus our cognition is like a mirror dimly reflecting true values which we can only guess. So, God's world is a whole system of images of mirrors built in the form of a ladder, each step of which reflects God to a certain extent. At the basis of everything is God Himself — the One, Beginningless, Incomprehensible, having no image, giving life to everything. He is everything and everything is in Him, and there is no one who could look at God from the outside. The incomprehensibility of God became the basis for the commandment forbidding the depiction of God (Ex. 20.4). The transcendence of God, revealed to man in the Old Testament, exceeds human capabilities, so the Bible says: “ man cannot see God and stay alive» (Ex. 33.20). Even Moses, the greatest of the prophets, who communicated directly with Jehovah, heard His voice more than once, when he asked to show him the Face of God, received the following answer: “ you will see me from behind, but my face will not be seen» (Ex. 33.23).

Evangelist John also testifies: God has never been seen"(John 1.18a), but then adds:" the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has revealed» (John 1.18b). Here is the center of the New Testament revelation: through Jesus Christ we have direct access to God, we can see His face. " The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth, and we saw His glory» (John 1.14). Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, the incarnate Word is the only and true Image of the Invisible God. AT in a certain sense He is the first and only icon. The Apostle Paul writes: He is the image of the Invisible God, born before every creature" (Col. 1.15), and " being the image of God, he took the form of a servant» (Phil. 2.6-7). The appearance of God into the world occurs through His belittling, kenosis (Greek κενωσις). And at each subsequent step, the image reflects the Prototype to a certain extent, thanks to this, the internal structure of the world is exposed.

The next step of the ladder we have drawn is a person. God created man in His own image and likeness (Gen. 1.26) (κατ εικονα ημετεραν καθ ομοιωσιν), thereby distinguishing him from all creation. In this sense, man is also an icon of God. Rather, he is meant to be. The Savior called the disciples: be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect» (Mt. 5.48). Here the true is found human dignity, open to people Christ. But as a result of his fall, having fallen away from the source of Being, man in his natural natural state does not reflect, like a pure mirror, God's image. To achieve the required perfection, a person needs to make efforts (Matt. 11.12). The Word of God reminds man of his original calling. This is also evidenced by the Image of God, revealed in the icon. In everyday life it is often difficult to find confirmation of this; looking around and impartially looking at himself, a person may not immediately see the image of God. However, it is in every person. The image of God may not be manifested, hidden, clouded, even distorted, but it exists in our very depths as a guarantee of our being. The process of spiritual development consists in discovering the image of God in oneself, revealing, purifying, restoring it. In many ways, this is reminiscent of the restoration of an icon, when a blackened, sooty board is washed, cleaned, removing layer after layer of old drying oil, numerous later layers and inscriptions, until finally the Face comes through, the Light shines, the Image of God manifests itself. The Apostle Paul writes to his disciples: My children! for whom I am again in the throes of birth, until Christ is formed in you!» (Gal. 4.19). The Gospel teaches that the goal of a person is not just self-improvement, as the development of his natural abilities and natural qualities, but the revelation in himself of the true Image of God, the achievement of God's likeness, what the holy fathers called "deification" (Greek Θεοσις). This process is difficult, according to Paul, it is the pangs of birth, because the image and likeness in us are separated by sin - we receive the image at birth, and we achieve the likeness during life. That is why in the Russian tradition the saints are called "reverend", that is, those who have attained the likeness of God. This title is awarded to the greatest holy ascetics, such as Sergius of Radonezh or Seraphim of Sarov. And at the same time, this is the goal that every Christian faces. It is no coincidence that St. Basil the Great said that " Christianity is likening God to the extent that it is possible for human nature«.

The process of “deification”, the spiritual transformation of a person, is Christocentric, since it is based on likeness to Christ. Even following the example of any saint is not limited to him, but leads, first of all, to Christ. " Imitate me as I imitate Christ“, wrote the apostle Paul (1 Cor. 4.16). So any icon is initially Christocentric, no matter who is depicted on it - whether the Savior Himself, the Mother of God or one of the saints. Holiday icons are also Christocentric. Precisely because we have been given the only true Image and role model - Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Incarnate Word. This image in us should be glorified and shine: yet we, with open face, as in a mirror, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord» (2 Cor. 3.18).

A person is located on the verge of two worlds: above a person - the divine world, below - the natural world, because of where his mirror is deployed - up or down - it will depend on whose image he perceives. From a certain historical stage, the attention of man was focused on the creature and the worship of the Creator faded into the background. The misfortune of the pagan world and the wine of modern culture is that people, having known God, they did not glorify Him as God, and were not thankful, but were futile in their minds… and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image like corruptible man, and birds, and quadrupeds, and reptiles… they replaced the truth with a lie and worshiped and served the creature instead of Creator"(1 Cor. 1.21-25).

Indeed, a step below the human world lies the created world, which also reflects, in its measure, the image of God, like any other creature that bears the stamp of its Creator. However, this can only be seen if the correct hierarchy of values ​​is observed. It is no coincidence that the holy fathers said that God gave man two books for knowledge - the Book of Scripture and the Book of Creation. And through the second book, we can also comprehend the greatness of the Creator - through " viewing creations» (Rom. 1.20). This so-called level of natural revelation was available to the world even before Christ. But in creation the image of God is even more diminished than in man, since sin has entered the world and the world lies in evil. Each underlying step reflects not only the Prototype, but also the previous one; against this background, the role of a person is very clearly visible, since “ the creature did not submit voluntarily" and " awaits the salvation of the sons of God» (Rom. 8.19-20). A person who has corrected the image of God in himself distorts this image in all creation. All the ecological problems of the modern world stem from this. Their decision is closely connected with the inner transformation of the person himself. The revelation of the new heaven and the new earth reveals the mystery of the future creation, for " passes the image of this world"(1 Cor. 7.31). One day, through the Creation, the Image of the Creator will shine in all its beauty and light. The Russian poet F.I. Tyutchev saw this prospect as follows:

When the last hour of nature strikes,
The composition of the earthly parts will collapse,
Everything visible around will be covered by water
And God's Face will be displayed in them.

And, finally, the last fifth step of the ladder we have drawn is the icon itself, and more broadly, the creation of human hands, all human creativity. Only when included in the system of images-mirrors described by us, reflecting the Prototype, the icon ceases to be just a board with plots written on it. Outside this ladder, the icon does not exist, even if it was painted in accordance with the canons. Outside this context, all distortions in icon veneration arise: some deviate into magic, crude idolatry, others fall into art veneration, sophisticated aestheticism, and still others completely deny the use of icons. The purpose of the icon is to direct our attention to the Archetype - through the only Image of the Incarnate Son of God - to the Invisible God. And this path lies through the revelation of the Image of God in ourselves. The veneration of the icon is the worship of the Archetype, the prayer before the icon is the standing before the Incomprehensible and Living God. The icon is only a sign of His presence. The aesthetics of the icon is only a small approximation to the beauty of the imperishable future age, like a barely visible contour, not quite clear shadows; contemplating the icon is similar to a person gradually regaining his sight, who is healed by Christ (Mk. 8.24). That's why o. Pavel Florensky argued that an icon is always either larger or less product art. Everything is decided by the inner spiritual experience of the future.

Ideally, all human activity- iconological. A person paints an icon, seeing the true Image of God, but an icon also creates a person, reminding him of the image of God hidden in him. A person tries to peer into the Face of God through the icon, but God also looks at us through the Image. " We know in part and we prophesy in part, when the perfect comes, then that which is in part will cease. Now we see, as if through a dull glass, guessingly, but at the same time, face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know, just as I am known"(1 Cor. 13.9,12). The conditional language of the icon is a reflection of the incompleteness of our knowledge of the divine reality. And at the same time, it is a sign indicating the existence of the Absolute beauty, which is hidden in God. Fyodor Dostoyevsky's famous saying "Beauty will save the world" is not just a winning metaphor, but it is the precise and deep intuition of a Christian brought up on a thousand-year-old Orthodox tradition of searching for this beauty. God is true Beauty, and therefore salvation cannot be ugly, formless. The Biblical image of the suffering Messiah, in whom there is “neither form nor majesty” (Is. 53.2), only emphasizes what has been said above, revealing the point at which the belittling (Greek κενωσις) of God, and at the same time of the Beauty of His Image, comes to limit, but from the same point the ascent begins. Just as the descent of Christ into hell is the destruction of hell and the leading of all the faithful to the Resurrection and Eternal Life. " God is Light and there is no darkness in Him”(1 John 1.5) - this is the image of the True Divine and saving beauty.

The Eastern Christian tradition perceives Beauty as one of the proofs of the existence of God. According to a well-known legend, the last argument for Prince Vladimir in choosing a faith was the testimony of the ambassadors about the heavenly beauty of the Hagia Sophia of Constantinople. Knowledge, as Aristotle argued, begins with wonder. So often the knowledge of God begins with wonder at the beauty of God's creation.

« I praise You, because I am wonderfully made. Wonderful are Thy works, and my soul is fully aware of this."(Ps. 139.14). The contemplation of beauty reveals to man the secret of the relationship between the external and the internal in this world.

…So what is beauty?
And why do people deify her?
Is she a vessel in which there is emptiness?
Or fire flickering in a vessel?
(N. Zabolotsky)

For the Christian consciousness, beauty is not an end in itself. It is only an image, a sign, an occasion, one of the paths leading to God. There is no Christian aesthetics in the proper sense, just as there is no "Christian mathematics" or "Christian biology". However, for a Christian it is clear that the abstract category of "beautiful" (beauty) loses its meaning outside the concepts of "good", "truth", "salvation". Everything is united by God in God and in the name of God, the rest is formless. The rest is pure hell (by the way, the Russian word “pitch” means everything that remains except, that is, outside, in this case outside of God). Therefore, it is so important to distinguish between external, false beauty, and true, internal beauty. True Beauty is a spiritual category, imperishable, independent of external changing criteria, it is incorruptible and belongs to another world, although it can manifest itself in this world. External beauty is transient, changeable, it is just external beauty, attractiveness, charm (the Russian word “charm” comes from the root “flattery”, which is akin to a lie). The Apostle Paul, guided by the biblical understanding of beauty, gives this advice to Christian women: May your adornment be not external weaving of hair, not golden headdresses or finery in clothes, but a man hidden in the heart in the imperishable beauty of a meek and silent spirit, which is precious before God"(1 Pet. 3.3-4).

So, “the imperishable beauty of a meek spirit, valuable before God” is, perhaps, the cornerstone of Christian aesthetics and ethics, which constitute an inseparable unity, for beauty and goodness, beauty and spirituality, form and meaning, creativity and salvation are essentially inseparable, as one at its core Image and Word. It is no coincidence that the collection of patristic instructions, known in Russia under the name "Philokalia", in Greek is called "Φιλοκαλια" .(Philocalia), which can be translated as "love for the beautiful", for true beauty is the spiritual transfiguration of man, in which the Image of God is glorified.
Averintsev S. S. "The Poetics of Early Christian Literature". M., 1977, p. 32.

Explanation of the common phrase "Beauty will save the world" in the encyclopedic dictionary of catchwords and expressions by Vadim Serov:

"Beauty will save the world" - from the novel "The Idiot" (1868) by F. M. Dostoevsky (1821 - 1881).

As a rule, it is understood literally: contrary to the author's interpretation of the concept of "beauty".

In the novel (part 3, ch. V), these words are spoken by an 18-year-old youth, Ippolit Terentyev, referring to the words of Prince Myshkin transmitted to him by Nikolai Ivolgin and ironically over the latter: “It’s true, prince, that you once said that the world will be saved by“ beauty "? Gentlemen, - he shouted loudly to everyone, - the prince claims that beauty will save the world! And I say that he has such playful thoughts because he is now in love.

Gentlemen, the prince is in love; just now, as soon as he entered, I was convinced of this. Don't blush, prince, I'll feel sorry for you. What beauty will save the world. Kolya told me this... Are you a zealous Christian? Kolya says that you call yourself a Christian.

The prince examined him attentively and did not answer him. F. M. Dostoevsky was far from strictly aesthetic judgments - he wrote about spiritual beauty, about the beauty of the soul. This corresponds to the main idea of ​​the novel - to create an image of "positively beautiful person". Therefore, in his drafts, the author calls Myshkin "Prince Christ", thereby reminding himself that Prince Myshkin should be as similar as possible to Christ - kindness, philanthropy, meekness, a complete lack of selfishness, the ability to sympathize with human misfortunes and misfortunes. Therefore, the “beauty” that the prince (and F. M. Dostoevsky himself) speaks of is the sum of the moral qualities of a “positively beautiful person”.

Such a purely personal interpretation of beauty is characteristic of the writer. He believed that "people can be beautiful and happy" not only in the afterlife. They can be like this and "without losing the ability to live on earth." To do this, they must agree with the idea that Evil “cannot be the normal state of people”, that everyone is able to get rid of it. And then, when people will be guided by the best that is in their soul, memory and intentions (Good), then they will be truly beautiful. And the world will be saved, and it is precisely such “beauty” (that is, the best that is in people) that will save it.

Of course, this will not happen overnight - spiritual work, trials and even suffering are needed, after which a person renounces Evil and turns to Good, begins to appreciate it. The writer speaks of this in many of his works, including in the novel The Idiot. For example (Part 1, Chapter VII):

“For some time, the general, silently and with a certain tinge of disdain, examined the portrait of Nastasya Filippovna, which she held in front of her in her outstretched hand, extremely and effectively moving away from her eyes.

Yes, she's good," she finally said, "very good indeed. I saw her twice, only from a distance. So you appreciate such and such beauty? she suddenly turned to the prince.
- Yes ... such ... - the prince answered with some effort.
- That is, exactly like this?
- Exactly like this
- For what?
“There is a lot of suffering in this face ...” the prince said, as if involuntarily, as if speaking to himself, and not answering a question.
“You may be delirious, by the way,” the general’s wife decided and with an arrogant gesture threw the portrait back on the table.

The writer in his interpretation of beauty acts as a like-minded person German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), who spoke of "the moral law within us", that "beauty is a symbol of moral goodness". F. M. Dostoevsky develops the same idea in his other works. So, if in the novel “The Idiot” he writes that beauty will save the world, then in the novel “Demons” (1872) he logically concludes that “ugliness (malice, indifference, selfishness. - Comp.) will kill ... "

beauty will save the world
From the novel The Idiot (1868) by F. M. Dostoevsky (1821 - 1881).
As a rule, it is understood literally: contrary to the author's interpretation of the concept of "beauty".
In the novel (part 3, ch. V), these words are spoken by an 18-year-old youth, Ippolit Terentyev, referring to the words of Prince Myshkin transmitted to him by Nikolai Ivolgin and ironically over the latter: “It’s true, prince, that you once said that the world will be saved by“ beauty "? Gentlemen, - he shouted loudly to everyone, - the prince claims that beauty will save the world! And I say that he has such playful thoughts because he is now in love.
Gentlemen, the prince is in love; just now, as soon as he entered, I was convinced of this. Don't blush, prince, I'll feel sorry for you. What beauty will save the world? Kolya told me this... Are you a zealous Christian? Kolya says that you call yourself a Christian.
The prince examined him attentively and did not answer him.
F. M. Dostoevsky was far from strictly aesthetic judgments - he wrote about spiritual beauty, about the beauty of the soul. This corresponds to the main idea of ​​the novel - to create the image of a "positively beautiful person". Therefore, in his drafts, the author calls Myshkin "Prince Christ", thereby reminding himself that Prince Myshkin should be as similar as possible to Christ - kindness, philanthropy, meekness, a complete lack of selfishness, the ability to sympathize with human misfortunes and misfortunes. Therefore, the “beauty” that the prince (and F. M. Dostoevsky himself) speaks of is the sum of the moral qualities of a “positively beautiful person”.
Such a purely personal interpretation of beauty is characteristic of the writer. He believed that "people can be beautiful and happy" not only in the afterlife. They can be like this and "without losing the ability to live on earth." To do this, they must agree with the idea that Evil “cannot be the normal state of people”, that everyone is able to get rid of it. And then, when people will be guided by the best that is in their soul, memory and intentions (Good), then they will be truly beautiful. And the world will be saved, and it is precisely such “beauty” (that is, the best that is in people) that will save it.
Of course, this will not happen overnight - spiritual work, trials and even suffering are needed, after which a person renounces Evil and turns to Good, begins to appreciate it. The writer speaks of this in many of his works, including in the novel The Idiot. For example (Part 1, Chapter VII):
“For some time, the general, silently and with a certain tinge of disdain, examined the portrait of Nastasya Filippovna, which she held in front of her in her outstretched hand, extremely and effectively moving away from her eyes.
Yes, she's good," she finally said, "very good indeed. I saw her twice, only from a distance. So you appreciate such and such beauty? she suddenly turned to the prince.
Yes ... such ... - answered the prince with some effort.
That is, exactly like this?
Exactly this.
For what?
There is a lot of suffering in this face ... - the prince said, as if involuntarily, as if speaking to himself, and not answering a question.
You, however, may be delusional, ”the general’s wife decided and with an arrogant gesture threw the portrait on the table about herself.”
The writer in his interpretation of beauty acts as a like-minded German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), who spoke about the “moral law within us”, that “beauty is a symbol
ox of moral good. F. M. Dostoevsky develops the same idea in his other works. So, if in the novel “The Idiot” he writes that beauty will save the world, then in the novel “Demons” (1872) he logically concludes that “ugliness (malice, indifference, selfishness. - Comp.) will kill ... "

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• - in the concepts of Holy Russia, divine harmony, inherent in nature, man, some things and images ...

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• - That side of phenomena which, in its specificity, is not subject to judgment either from the point of view of theoretical truth, or from the point of view of moral goodness, or - material benefit, and which, however, ...

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"Beauty will save the world" in books

3. Beauty will save the world