The Vocation of Beauty

"Those who aspire to a life of beauty, must, in the first place, strive to be truthful and good. If life is true it will automatically become beautiful, just as light shines forth when flame is enkindled. But if they seek after beauty in the first place... in the end everything will become nauseating and loathsome."

"Beauty eludes those who pursue it for its' own sake, and their life and work are ruined because they have sinned against the fundamental order of values. If a man, however, desires to live for truth alone, to be truthful in himself and to speak the truth, and if he keeps his soul open, beauty - in the shape of richness, purity, and vitality od form - will come to meet him, unsought and unexpected."

Romano Guardini The Spirit of the Liturgy (Milestones in Catholic Theology)