#ornament

In a very simple sense I want everything that's in a work to be there for the reason that it's needed. It's not an ornamentation. It's not there because I thought it looked nice but because it has to be there. ↗

— Paul Cullen

#everything #i #looked #needed #nice

I will not subscribe to the argument that ornament increases the pleasure of the life of a cultivated person, or the argument which covers itself with the words: “But if the ornament is beautiful! ...” To me, and to all the cultivated people, ornament does not increase the pleasures of life. If I want to eat a piece of gingerbread I will choose one that is completely plain and not a piece which represents a baby in arms of a horserider, a piece which is covered over and over with decoration. The man of the fifteenth century would not understand me. But modern people will. The supporter of ornament believes that the urge for simplicity is equivalent to self-denial. No, dear professor from the College of Applied Arts, I am not denying myself! To me, it tastes better this way. ↗

— Adolf Loos

#modernism #ornament #art

Silence is an ornament for women. ↗

— Sophocles

#silence #women

Down below the broad, roaring waves of the sea break against the deep foundation of the rock. But high above the mountain, the sea, and the peaks of rock the eternal ornamentation blooms silently from the dark depths of the universe. ↗

— Rudolf Otto

#against #below #blooms #break #broad

I see my body as an instrument, rather than an ornament. ↗

— Alanis Morissette

#i #i see #instrument #ornament #rather

I think there is no better way to invite a human being to view their body differently than by inviting them to be an athlete, by revering one's body as an instrument rather than just an ornament. ↗

— Alanis Morissette

#being #better #better way #body #differently

So may the outward shows be least themselves: The world is still deceived with ornament. In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt, But, being seasoned with a gracious voice, Obscures the show of evil? In religion, What damned error, but some sober brow Will bless it and approve it with a text, Hiding the grossness with fair ornament? There is no vice so simple but assumes Some mark of virtue on his outward parts. ↗

— William Shakespeare

#falsehood #law #ornament #pretense #religion

Bad conduct soils the finest ornament more than filth. ↗

— Plautus

#conduct #filth #finest #more #ornament

Beauty doesn't need ornaments. Softness can't bear the weight of ornaments. ↗

— Munshi Premchand

#bear #need #ornaments #softness #weight

I believe the right question to ask, respecting all ornament, is simply this; was it done with enjoyment, was the carver happy while he was about it? ↗

— John Ruskin

#ask #believe #carver #done #enjoyment