people to the same level, fulfill the highest ideals of democracy, which disregards such things as wealth and social status. Values such as humility, wisdom and meekness can be discerned in the objects of our everyday environment. The philosopher Alain de Botton explores how we find beauty in objects that possess those qualities we ourselves lack. In his book The Architecture of Happiness, he recognises our astuteness at perceiving human qualities in even the most abstract and simple of objects. Happiness, he observes, can well
Enrichment through decay and weathering: An old red barn.
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Beauty and the spirit
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