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an abeyance, at least temporary, of the pleasure principle, and therefore a suppression of our half - the subjective half - of the equation of sensuous beauty. On the other hand, that quest also promises a more abstract pleasure: the pleasure of finding out; and ultimately even the discovery of a more abstract beauty: the beauty to be found in the symmetries of mathematics, for example, the orderliness beneath the confusion of events, the elegance of a simple rule governing the apparent randomness of experience, and a resultant feeling of serenity that can be deeply reassuring. The search for truth may not have been the same thing as the search for beauty, but it is a search for a certain form of satisfaction, and it can result in as startling a revelation: truth can fall on you out of nowhere, just like beauty; it can sweep you 
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up, cause sleepless nights, give direction to your life; the search for truth can conquer your mind and soul and heart with a passion as hot as any worldly love's. The difference, of course, is that beauty is given immediately: it exists in the feeling that it exists, whereas truth has to be demonstrated, needs proving. Truth has to be taken out of the moment of insight and made repeatable - "here, let me show you again" - until its polish has been worn off, its aura dissipated, and it can be handled unself-consciously and without wonder - until its "beauty" has faded away. We sometimes say that a solution to a particularly hard problem is "brilliant" - it glows with a hard, warm light - it is "beautiful." ***  |
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