'If thou of fortune be bereft
And in thy store there be but left
two fishes, sell one and with the dole
Buy hyacinths to feed the soul.'
Muslihuddin Sadi.
We know that the flower has the shape and colour and perfume that it has, but why do we find it beautiful and why do we seem to need beauty? Science is beginning to show us just why. Beauty seems to be in the genes of the beholder. Humans just work better when they are looking at certain shapes and colours. hearing certain sounds, smelling different scents - and I don't just mean 'work' in the obvious sense, but in terms of making the best of what we have, physically and mentally and emotionally. And why do we need the arts? They are part of our humanity. Making art, in all its varieties, gives us the chance of sharing our experiences with others and making some sense of the chaos of life - and what do a Beethoven symphony, a Monet painting and a Shakespearean soliloquy have in common? They give us a means of finding beauty. We need businesses to make the country money, but we also need beauty - and the Arts. We forget to include it in our education system at our peril.
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