Note 967 — Chapter VIII · EDUCATION OF THE SPARTANS, CRETANS, ARCADIANS, ETC.
Reading edition
An ancient author has the following expression: οὐκοῦν τὸ θῆλυ, κᾄν λίθινον ᾖ, φιλεῖται· τί δ᾽ εἴ τις ἔμψυχον εἶδε τοιοῦτον κάλλος;—Luc. Amor. § 17.
Something very like which is found in Byron:
“There, too, the Goddess loves in stone, and fills
The air around with beauty.”