Three elements contribute to the extraordinary nature of this book: Socrates' wisdom and doubt, Paul Valéry's inspired quest for a methodology of creation, and the linguistic artistry of this prose translation created during Rilke's final years. The theme of these dialogues, which Walter Benjamin referred to as "the only beautiful and significant writing in the form of the Platonic dialogue," is the arts—painting and poetry, dance, music, and architecture—and their impact on people. It is about form, about creating a "world of precise forces" from a "formless heap of stones." "The greatest freedom arises from the greatest strictness.".