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In the range of inorganic nature, I doubt if any object can be found more perfectly beautiful than a fresh, deep snow-drift, seen under warm light. Its curves are of inconceivable perfection and changefulness, its surface and transparency alike exquisite, its light and shade of inexhaustible variety and inimitable finish, the shadows sharp, pale, and of heavenly color, the reflected lights intense and multitudinous, and mingled with the sweet occurrences of transmitted light.

Where these words come from

How sure this is
95% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
What turned up
Modern Painters, Volume I (1843); Exact wording and attribution checked. Ruskin’s aesthetic account of landscape; analogy and judgments of beauty, not geology instruction.
Work
Modern Painters, Volume I (1843)
Sources checked
  • gutenberg.orgChecked using manual, 21 October 2026Modern Painters, Volume I (1843); Exact wording and attribution checked. Ruskin’s aesthetic account of landscape; analogy and judgments of beauty, not geology instruction.

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