Okay, I think we need to get this right this Advent as we look toward the cultural richness and beauty of Christmas.
Too many writers are publishing articles on the need for a restoration of the sacred by headlining or quoting the passage, “beauty will save the world.” Um… restoration of the sacred, the importance of the language of beauty — all yes! But beauty “will not” save the world. Here is why.
As artist, novelist, and commentator, Michael D. O’Brien points out, the quote is rooted in Dostoevsky’s novel, The Idiot.
Misusing Dostoevsky: The Problem with “Beauty Will Save the World”
“Beauty will save the world.” This oft-quoted maxim of Dostoevsky’s, derived from his novel The Idiot, is widely misunderstood and frequently misused in our times, often detached from its original context and deeper meaning. It is invoked in art galleries, marketing slogans, and social commentaries, usually to celebrate aesthetics or to emphasize the uplifting power of beauty.
However, as the author powerfully demonstrates throughout the novel, beauty alone—especially when reduced to superficial or sentimental forms—cannot save the world. It is not mere external loveliness or artistic brilliance that holds salvific power. Rather, Dostoevsky’s insight points toward something far more profound: the mystery in which beauty, when united with suffering and humility, can pierce the human heart. This union has the capacity to reach into the soul of the observer and awaken something transcendent, for reasons that go beyond carnal desire or even romanticized, idealized attraction—though these feelings may indeed appear at the early stages of a relationship and serve as an initial doorway.
Beauty Alone Is Not Enough: The Role of Suffering and Humility
As the lover matures in his love for the beloved, he must move beyond attraction alone and begin to will and seek the highest good of the beloved. True love requires selflessness; it demands an interior transformation that turns the heart away from using the other and toward serving them. If his love is to avoid degenerating into possessiveness or self-interest, it must grow increasingly Christ-like—marked by sacrificial giving, mercy, and unwavering fidelity even in pain.
I do not want to give away the plot of the novel to those who haven’t read it, but let me at least say this: toward the end of The Idiot, Prince Myshkin’s love for Nastassya is put to a supreme and agonizing test. He is called upon not merely to love but to embody mercy itself, to become a living image of Christ, by extending compassion and presence not only to Nastassya but also to the very person who causes her destruction. This moment reveals the true cost and redemptive potential of beauty—when it is united with suffering and shaped by love.
Dostoevsky once wrote in his Notebooks, “Suffering is the origin of consciousness.” A novel like The Idiot could only have been created as the fruit of the author’s personal sufferings. This is why the Church has frequently called artists to open their hearts completely to Christ, so that as they live in the fullness of both crucifixion and resurrection, living words might flow through them. In the age of comfort and materialism, many artists draw back in revulsion from this invitation and, like the rich young man in the Gospel, turn sadly away. They fail to understand that within the mystery of suffering with Christ is hidden a great joy—and inexhaustible riches.
True Beauty Is Crucified Love: The Path to Resurrection
The beauty that will save the world is the love of God. This love is both human and supernatural in character, but it germinates, flowers, and comes to fruition only in a crucified heart. Only the heart united with Christ on the Cross is able to love another as himself, and as God loves him. Only such a heart can pass through the narrow gate of the Cross and live in the light of Resurrection. The good news is that this resurrection begins here and now.