An orange in a patterned bowl beside a small brass mirror reflecting it, on sea-green cloth.

Original artwork, not a still

Voltaire

Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

Appreciating someone else's excellence, the quote says, lets you share in it. Admiration turns what they've achieved into something you also own in a sense. The archive notes this is attributed to Voltaire but unsourced, so the attribution is uncertain.

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