Thought 15SEP2008

THE BEAUTY REMAINS; THE PAIN PASSES
Although Henri Matisse was nearly 28 years younger than Auguste Renoir, the two great artists were dear friends and frequent companions. When Renoir was confined to his home during the last decade of his life, Matisse visited him daily. Renoir, almost paralyzed by arthritis, continued to paint in spite of his infirmities. One day as Matisse watched the elder painter working in his studio, fighting tortuous pain with each brush stroke, he blurted out : "Auguste, why do you continue to paint when you are in such agony?"
Renoir answered simply: "The beauty remains; the pain passes." And so, almost to his dying day, Renoir put paint to canvas. One of his most famous paintings, The Bathers, was completed just two weeks before his passing, 14 years after he was stricken by this disabling disease.
The Best of Bits & Pieces - extracted from 'A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul', Jack Canfield & Mark Victor Hansen, Health Communications, Inc., 1996.

A fool and water will go the way they are diverted - African Proverb