Walter Pater's Conclusion

Walter Pater's conclusion from "The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry" was very short, but also very intriguing. He takes an indepth look at physical life and how it is affected by each moment we are living, each pulse we are giving. The way to make the most of these moments is to immerse ourselves in art and poetry.

Scientifically, our physical life is composed of many elements, "our physical life is a perpetual motion of them...processes which science reduces to simpler and more elementary forces." To me, this means that science gives credit to just the physical life of what keeps us living to a certain extent, but it does not give show any notion of what else keeps us breathing...passion!

Pater's idea of "inward world of thought and feeling" is poetic in the way that he describes experience. It is "a drift of momentary acts of sight and passion and thought." Experience is defined as "a group of impressions" that really strike us during the experience. Each moment has its own impressions, senses and those moments are limited.

Passion is key in making the most of our limited moments, "a counted number of pulses only is given to us of a variegated, dramatic life." Forming habits in our everyday life may be a failure, according to Pater because we miss out on other experiences if we are always doing the same thing, not paying close enough attention.

One of my favorite passages from Pater's conclusion is:
"To burn always with this hard, gemlike flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is success in life."
~Pater gives a very concise and simple definition of life. All that we must do is burn with passion inside. A passion for life. A passion for new experiences. A passion for the things which give us passion...the things that keep the fire aglow.

Pater also believes that "instruments of criticism" help us to make the most of our experiences by paying greater attention to things. It helps us to see the things that we may not see throughout our life and experiences. Most importantly, Pater believes that the wisest people experience this passion "in art and song". Art gives life to the senses, "for art comes to you proposing frankly to give nothing but highest quality to your moments as they pass, and simply for those moments' sake."