Beauty is always the result of an accident. Of a violent lapse between acquired habits and those yet to be acquired. It baffles and disgusts. It may even horrify. Once the new habit has been acquired, the accident ceases to be an accident. It becomes classical and loses its shock value.

Summary

This quote suggests that beauty is not a deliberate or planned outcome, but rather the unexpected result of a contrast or shift between existing and evolving aesthetics. Initially, beauty can be unsettling and disturbing, as it challenges established conventions and norms. However, once the new aesthetic becomes familiar and accepted, it loses its power to shock and becomes a conventionalized "classical" form of beauty. The quote implies that beauty is fluid, evolving, and subjective, rooted in the interplay between the unexpected and the familiar.

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