审 美
艺术是跟未被观察到的事物进行的单向交谈。
伯努瓦·曼德勃罗的天才就在于，不必倚仗完美的形式，也能达到美学上的质朴。
美会因毫不羞耻的缺乏规律和形之于外的错误得到强化和扩展。
对“进步”的理解：我们所谓“丑陋”的地方都是现代的、人造的（例如纽瓦克），不是自然的或者历史的（例如罗马）。
我们喜欢不完美——恰如其分的不完美，我们会为原创艺术品和充满错误的初始版本付大价钱。
绝大多数人需要听到别人说“这是很美的艺术”才会跟着说“这是很美的艺术”；有些人需要听到两个人或者更多的人这样说，他自己才会跟着说。
穆太奈比宣称自己是最伟大的阿拉伯诗人，他是在最伟大的阿拉伯诗歌里这么说的。
才智的吸引力在于既表现出智力，又不惹人生厌。
在古典雕塑作品中，男人身材瘦削，女人身材肥腴；在现代摄影作品中，正好相反。
就像没有哪只猴子比哪怕最丑的人更漂亮一样，没有哪个书呆子比哪怕最糟糕的创造者更有价值。
要是你想招一个诗人讨厌，就诠释他的诗歌。
AESTHETICS
Art is a one-sided conversation with the unobserved.
The genius of Beno?t Mandelbrot is in achieving aesthetic simplicity without having recourse to smoothness.
Beauty is enhanced by unashamed irregularities; magnificence by a facade of blunder.
To understand "progress": all places we call "ugly" are both man-made and modern (Newark), never natural or historical (Rome).
We love imperfection, the right kind of imperfection; we pay up for original art and typo-laden 1st editions.
Most people need to wait for another person to say "this is beautiful art" to say "this is beautiful art"; some need to wait for two or more.
Almutanabbi boasted that he was the greatest of all Arab poets; but he said so in the greatest of all Arab poems.
Wit seduces by signaling intelligence without nerdiness.
In classical renderings of prominent figures, males are lean and females are plump; in modern photographs, the opposite.
Just as no monkey is as good-looking as the ugliest of humans, no academic is worthier than the worst of the creators.
If you want to annoy a poet, explain his poetry.