Willa Cather once said though I know not where:
"Beauty is not so plentiful that we can afford to object to stepping back a dozen paces to catch it."
Today, again at the library, working again to know sufficient Italian to pass an upcoming exam, I could not stop myself from taking the time to walk through the Century of Art exhibit at the New York Public Library Schwartzman building on the top floor, the corridor leading to the Rose Reading Room. I felt vaguely guilty, dawdling among the pictures on my way to or from the Women's Room–I really ought to spend each moment translating, vocabulary building–but I could not resist looking at this, then that, liking it more or less with additional viewing time.
So I stepped back a dozen places from my academic activity to notice a work of art, and my life was made more beautiful for that pause. Why should I feel guilty and object to such time spent?
I hope you don't.
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