Survival of the Beautiful

Courage, pugnacity, perseverance, strength and size of body, weapons of all kinds, musical organs, both vocal and instrumental, bright colors and ornamental appendages, have all been indirectly gained by the one sex or the other, through the exertion of choice, the influence of love and jealousy, and the appreciation of the beautiful …

– Charles Darwin, 1871, The Descent of Man

Plato considered beauty to be so important that he enshrined it as one of the three objective values, which transcended individual foibles. Plato’s triumvirate of beauty, truth, and goodness was influential for some time.