And when art is merely sensuous, it is enfeebling and demoralizing rather than strengthening or elevating.

Honest courage is of greater worth than any amount of grace; purity is better than elegance; and cleanliness of body, mind, and heart, than any amount of fine art.
In fine, while the cultivation of the graces is not to be neglected, it should ever be held in mind that there is something far higher and nobler to be aimed at--greater than pleasure, greater than art, greater than wealth, greater than power, greater than intellect, greater than genius--and that is, purity and excellence of character.

Without a solid sterling basis of individual goodness, all the grace, elegance, and art in the world would fail to save or to elevate a people..