“The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”
— C.S. Lewis
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Photo ©2011, Jen Payne: Steven Tyler portrait with relfections at the Hard Rock Cafe, New York City, May 2011.
love the reflection of the purple lights – which somehow was making me think the singer in the portrait was Prince… thanks for explaining it was steven tyler – still a nice shot and even more interesting pairing with words by CS Lewis
There was more to that CS Lewis quote I wanted to include. Maybe some other post. The photo seemed to cool to clutter.
So True.
You know it!
Beautiful photo, with the purple and the gold — there’s something miraculous about that combination – (doesn’t matter if I never heard of Steven Tyler)
What you have already of the quote from C.S. Lewis makes me eager for more: “For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”
That is incredibly powerful —
especially the country never yet visited —
Isn’t that just a delicious quote?!?