Page:Personal beauty how to cultivate and preserve it in accordance with the laws of health (1870).djvu/337

 If these readers demand a moral to every tale, let them learn from the poet whom we have just quoted, that there is a moral in simply being fair, that beauty, like truth, carries with it its own benison, and deserves to be cultivated, as one of the means by which we may advance on the road of infinite progress. And this cultivation, let us define it closer, let us, leaving generalities, see what the individual should do in order to secure the greatest degree of comeliness.

In the first place, then, let her correct the various bad habits we have specified, chiefly those of carriage, of expression, of want of cleanliness, of false modes of dress, of incorrect speech, of injudicious diet, of indolence. Let her, with Faust, learn the bitter lesson that sich entsagen, to refuse one's self, is the first step to take; let her, with Wilhelm Meister, join the noble society of Renunciants, who are sure to lead the world.

Secondly, let her study her own complexion, expression, stature, profile, and outline, precisely as an artist does those of one of his ideal figures, and with the same care and pains as the artist, let her choose for herself the contrasting and harmonizing colors, the coiffure, the expression, and the manner, best adapted to bring out prominently all her natural advantages, and throw into the shade all unfavorable traits. This may be done, and must be done, without departing so far from the prevailing mode as to appear outré or eccentric.