Page:The Jewish Manual.djvu/245

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221

CHAPTER VII.


Influence of the Mind as regards Beauty.




All passions give their corresponding expression to the countenance; if of frequent occurrence they mark it with lines as indelible as those of age, and far more unbecoming. To keep these under proper control is, therefore, of high importance to beauty. Nature has ordained that passions shall be but passing acts of the mind, which, serving as natural stimulants, quicken the circulation of the blood, and increase the vital energies; consequently, when tempered and subdued by reason, they are rather conducive than otherwise, both to beauty and to health.

It is the habitual frame of mind, the hourly range of thought which render the countenance pleasing or repulsive; we should not forget that "the face is the index of the mind."