An icon is a symbol equally incomprehensible in all human languages An icon is a symbol equally incomprehensible in all human languages. There's a reason why humans invented phonetic languages. Jef Raskin, Steve Jobs iconographysymbols
By the handling of human hands This type of beauty grows with each passing day. Utilitarian craftwares become more beautiful the more they are used, and the more beautiful they become, the more they are used. Moreover, the heavens have ordained that these objects should attain an even greater beauty as they become worn by the handling of human hands. Yanagi Sōetsu, The Beauty of Miscellaneous Things Putting Thought Into Things utility