Eckhart TolleNYT Bestselling author of the Power of Now

Why Beauty Requires No Thought

3 Jul 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief excerpt, Eckhart Tolle explains that genuine appreciation of beauty—whether in a flower, a pet, or a moment of eye contact—arises only in brief instances of pure presence that are free of thinking. He notes that some people naturally experience these fleeting moments of non‑thinking, which allow them to sense love and beauty without the interference of the ego. The core claim is that access to a space of pure awareness, even for a few seconds, is required for true beauty appreciation.

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If you are able to appreciate beauty anywhere, whether in, let's say, a flower, you're not thinking. To recognize beauty, you need for a moment— and this, some people have it naturally, it doesn't free them from their ego, but these are brief moments of presence that some people have naturally. So the appreciation of beauty can only happen to somebody who has some access to that space of pure awareness without thinking, which is presence. Maybe you have access in a moment when you pet your dog, ha, ha, and for a moment you're not thinking, or you look into the eyes of a dog and you can sense for a moment, not thinking for 2 or 3 seconds, in that moment you feel a kind of love.