We should also pause to consider how charming and graceful are the unexpected effects of nature's work. When bread is baking, for example, cracks appear in the crust. Although these would seem to confound the baker's design, they attract our attention and help to arouse our appetite. Figs too burst open just when they are best to ear, and olives left on the tree to rot achieve a most exquisite beauty. Similarly, the golden grain's drooping heard, the lion's furrowed brow, the boar's foaming snout, and so many other details, if taken out of context, are not all that attractive, but when seen in their natural setting, they complete a picture and please the eye.
In this way, the perceptive man, profoundly curious about the workings of nature, will take a peculiar pleasure in everything, even in the humble or ungainly parts that contribute to the making of the whole. The actual jaws of living beasts will delight him as much as their representations by artists and sculptors. With a discerning eye, he will warm to an old man's strength or an old woman's beauty while admiring with cool detachment the seductive charms of youth. The world is full of wonders like these that will appeal only to those who study nature closely and develop a real affinity for her works.
The Emperor's Handbook 3.2
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