Dostoevsky wrote, “Beauty will save the world.” By understanding and applying Renaissance ideas about beauty today, we can tangibly improve human life at this very moment in time.

Living ideas are the opposite of dead information. Living ideas deepen our experience, convey insight, and can transform the greater world. But without living ideas to inspire it, life itself would become meaningless.

Michelangelo’s David symbolizes the city of Florence. But it also reflects the Renaissance idea of ”the dignity of man”—and the power of human beings to shape their own nature and destiny.

Medici patronage not only transformed Florence and allowed it to flourish—it also led to the creation of the first public library in Renaissance Europe.