Are you to wear your choicest
attributes as you do your clothes? A sure, strong arm in danger, a
gentle word in sorrow, an honest bit of counsel in doubt, courage in
times of trial, hearty praise in periods of endeavor,--all qualities
which have their origin in noble character,--you will come to feel
are infinitely better than brilliancy. You will appreciate them in
those from whom external beauty has departed, or you will recognize
the loveliness of these characteristics in the ever-living beauty which
the soul draws upon faces otherwise plain and homely. Cultivate that
power of insight which will enable you to look beyond eyes and nose
and mouth into the heart and soul of your friends: then you will see
beauty indeed, then you will know how precious and how beautiful a
woman's mind and a woman's character is. Then you will understand how
the poet writes her song, how the artist paints her rose, how the
musician meets out harmonies, how the teacher makes truth attractive.
More than this--much more than this--will come from insight. When you
have learned to look for inner beauty you will learn to make it your
own. Behind your lovely faces and your beautiful forms there will be
nourished the loftiest ideality of womanhood, which will make you not
only comprehend the worth of another, but will help you to interpret all
that is best and loveliest everywhere.
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