Many people may feel that although beauty does matter, it is an “extra,” something we like to have in our surroundings when more basic needs are met. Yet the pervasive role of the aesthetic is suggested by its root meaning of “feeling”—not just any kind of feeling, but “shaped” feeling and sensitive perception. And it is suggested even more by its opposite, anesthetic, “lack of feeling” —the condition of living death. The more attuned we are to the beauties of the world, the more we come to life and take joy in it.

—Yi-Fu Tuan