"Probably the fear of seeing America, with all its great strength and beauty and freedom ... gradually subside into decay through default and be defeated, not by the communist movement, but from within, from weariness, boredom, cynicism, greed and in the end helplessness before its great problems, " Percy said.

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In this space, often uncomfortable and uncertain, we are free to face the truth in all its beauty and ruin and to act today with tomorrow in our sights.

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You take the point: the beauty category is, for all its beauty, somewhat dull, presenting the same sorts of images with the current face plugged in, once in a while throwing in a white-coated lab tech to convince us this is all high science.

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Once the iPhone was introduced, with all the flair, style and beauty that are at the core of Apple, its success was driven not solely by technology but also by how technology was used to present a new view of what a mobile device could be.

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After all, Western art in many ways starts with the Greeks, who made ideal beauty, with its glimpse of divine perfection, the hallmark of their culture.

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