Beauty and the
Eye of the Beholder
By Sumita Batra

While most everyone thinks of Valentine's Day as a day to speak from the heart, seldom do we take the time really to create beautiful words that speak lovelingly: let's change that.

My whole life has been inspired by quotes, philosophies, poems and famous sayings. I use them with my family to inspire them and to show them my love. I also am famous at my business for sharing inspirations I gather from everything I read. These wise and loving words have helped me through troubled times and showed me possibilities when I saw none. They taught me to see beauty in every aspect of my life.

Each day is precious gift: a gift of infinite beauty and love and harmony. In a world where cultures merge and hearts know no limits, I thought it would be interesting to share some of the quotes that have guided hearts and minds to find beauty in the moment -- in the eyes of a child, in a sunset, in a caress. Each Valentine's Day, I hope you will rekindle your romantic heart with some of my personal favorites:

"Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on Simplicity!"
- Plato

"Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see Beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see Beauty never grows old."
- Frank Kafka

"People are like stained glass windows -- the true beauty can be seen only when there is light from within. The darker the night, the brighter the windows."
- Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

"Anything in any way beautiful derives its beauty from itself and asks nothing beyond itself. Praise is no part of it, for nothing is made worse or better by praise."
- Marcus Aurelius

"There is certainly no absolute standard of beauty. That precisely is what makes its pursuit so interesting."
- John Kenneth Galbraith

"Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be said about it. It is like the perfume of a rose: you can smell it and that is all."
- W. Somerset Maugham

"Beauty in things exist in the mind which contemplates them."
-- David Hume

"Love built on beauty, soon as beauty, dies."
- John Donne

Now it's your turn to share a loving thought with your beautiful someone: take a moment to celebrate the beauty in your life and in your heart. Know that in seeing and sharing beauty you can create something beautiful.
With regards from this little column in Indian Life & Style,
Sumita Batra