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“ ”If only — so he thought to himself later — Gerda's face had been a little less flawless in its beauty, the beauty of her body would have remained as maddening to his senses as it was at the beginning. But the more he had seen of her the more beautiful her face had grown; until it had now reached that magical level of loveliness which absorbs with a kind of absoluteness the whole aesthetic sense, paralysing the erotic sensibility.
About John Cowper Powys
John Cowper Powys (October 8 1872 – June 17 1963) was a British novelist, poet, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, anarchist, and autobiographer.
Biography information from Wikiquote
Additional quotes by John Cowper Powys
Different from all other essences in the world the smell of primroses has a sweetness that is faint and tremulous, and yet possesses a sort of tragic intensity. There exists in this flower, its soft petals, its cool, crinkled leaves, its pinkish stalk that breaks at a touch, something which seems able to pour its whole self into the scent it flings on the air. Other flowers have petals that are fragrant. The primrose has something more than that. The primrose throws its very life into this essence of itself which travels upon the air.
So evil, so cruel, so base, O Lord, are the generations of men, why dost Thou seek to redeem them with Thy suffering? Why dost Thou not cause a flood to arise — as at the beginning — and drown forever their itching, biting, stinging, scorpion-lusts in smooth, deep fathoms of oblivious water?
If no one were allowed to be thrilled by anything, as long as someone is made wretched by something, the life of the whole planet would perish!