Roses on My Path – flaming white

art, nature, quotes, ,

I’ll let G.K. Chesterton’s comments accompany this rose
that was on my path through the neighborhood:

rose white floribunda em av 2

“White is a colour. It is not a mere absence of colour; it is a shining and affirmative thing, as fierce as red, as definite as black. When, so to speak, your pencil grows red-hot, it draws roses; when it grows white-hot, it draws stars.

“And one of the two or three defiant verities of the best religious morality, of real Christianity, for example, is exactly this same thing; the chief assertion of religious morality is that white is a colour. Virtue is not the absence of vices or the avoidance of moral dangers; virtue is a vivid and separate thing, like pain or a particular smell. Mercy does not mean not being cruel or sparing people revenge or punishment; it means a plain and positive thing like the sun, which one has either seen or not seen. Chastity does not mean abstention from sexual wrong; it means something flaming, like Joan of Arc.

“In a word, God paints in many colours; but He never paints so gorgeously, I had almost said so gaudily, as when He paints in white.”

-G.K. Chesterton, “A Piece of Chalk,” in Tremendous Trifles

rose white floribunda em av 1crp

7 thoughts on “Roses on My Path – flaming white”

  2. enjoyed Chesterton’s comments ~
    and thanks for stopping by Hiddenart. here’s my explanation 😉

    ~ I have two blogs; both named hiddenart. One on blogspot. One on xanga (which content I did transfer to wordpress when I thought xanga might shut down). Apologies for the confusion. At this point, I mainly post here on blogger.

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  5. Love this Chesterton piece! I agree. Hope you had a tremendous Mother’s Day. 🙂
    I love white flowers. Such a bright, clean impact they make among the colors.

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