Jonathan Richardson defined the sublime as “the most Excellent of what is Excellent, as the Excellent is the Best of what is Good.”
As a graduate student, the day during spring break when I discovered the Grand Canyon was the day I discovered the sublime. I later discovered that I could experience the sublime in great works of people, primarily in the arts. For, “the most Excellent of what is Excellent” is quality, and quality is sublime.
Quality can be found in wilderness and in work; each can suspend our powers of comparison.
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For a short biographical sketch of Jonathan Richardson, click here.
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