The Gospel of Beauty
By Walter Russell
Statement of Being
All else passes, art alone endures.
Art is the expression of divinity in man.
Art is the interpretation of divine idea.
Art is the universal language in which inspired
man expresses himself to man and which needs no
translation.
Inspired man is super-man of super-thinking whom
man calls “genius.”
The genius is man inspired by his imagination
to bring beauty to the world.
The greater the imagination, the greater the perception
of the reality of universal existence.
Genius knows no limitations within those which
are universal.
Genius knows love and truth in all their fullness.
Genius gives to man the harmonies of universal
rhythm without which all is discord.
Genius gives to man knowledge which is of the
soul. Genius desires no reward.
The glory of genius is humility. Genius knows
not the taint of arrogance.
The Law
Beauty attracts, ugliness repels.
The Creed
I believe in the potential power of art
as a universal force analogous to that high
attribute of man which man calls love. Without
love, civilization could not be.
Without art, civilization could not be.
I believe every expression of art is a revelation
of divinity in man.
I believe that the five fine arts—architecture,
sculpture, painting, literature and music are
the media through which inspired messengers
to man express their revelations.
I believe that beauty of mass, form , line,
color and tone are the media by means of which
inspired man crystallizes his revelations for
man.
I believe that purity of expression in the fine
arts uplifts man, and that impurity in their
expression degrades him.
I believe that a worthy achievement will automatically
receive its commensurate reward, and that the
reward is secondary to the achievement and as
certain.
I believe that ecstasy is attainable only through
inspiration and that all inspired emotions are
beautiful.
I believe that only through the desire for expression
of beauty can civilization be bound together.
I believe that the highest standard of civilization
is reached at the maximum point of its ability
to express beauty.
The Pledge
As it is with the evolution of a nation, so
must it be with a neighborhood or with us. So
that I may know the inspiration of genius locked
within every man; so that I may give of myself
that inspiration which alone endures among the
traditions of man; and so that the influence
of my thinking may extend to the boundaries
of my wanderings among men and that my neighborhood
shall feel its power; I pledge myself to the
tenants of the Societe d’Esthetique and
hereby dedicate my thinking to the universal
language of art insofar as I may be inspired
to know that language.
I pledge myself to the creation of beauty. I
pledge myself to the support of beauty and the
suppression of ugliness in all things wherein
my influence may lie. I pledge myself to the
purity of expression in the fine arts and will
not be swayed or misguided by personal gain
to further that which shall hurt my neighbor.
I especially pledge myself to aid to the full
extent of my power in the creation of beauty
within the confines of the chapter in which
I have my abiding place. In the furtherance
of the Statement of Being, the Law, and the
Creed of the Society of Beauty, I hereby dedicate
myself and set my hand and seal.
