If we really want to support progress, then we would not search for the practicality of something, but much more evaluate whether it is beautiful and noble. […] It is terrible to have to perceive how many thousands of people today are, since earliest childhood directed towards no other activity but that which is designed to bring material advantage and which is to be pursued merely for the sake of utility, cut off in life from the beautiful and artistic. In the poorest elementary schools, the most beautiful works of art should hang, that would bring infinite blessings for human development.
Source (German): Rudolf Steiner – GA 266a – Aus den Inhalten der esoterischen Stunden – Munich, January 16, 1908 (page 299)
Translated by Nesta Carsten-Krüger
Previously posted on September 10, 2017
The great Rudolf Steiner Quotes Site 