This craze for the gaudy baubles and trinkets of this world is responsible for the repugnance that is exhibited by the materialistic thinkers to any serious consideration of the real center of the principle that is distortedly reflected in the aesthetic enterprises of this mundane world. The attitude to condemn spiritual aesthetic without a hearing by infatuated reliance on its unwholesome counterfeit,  perpetuates our degrading thralldom to the latter. All of the so-called wealth of mundane fine arts make their appeal to the sensuous nature of man and prompts ultimately to animality of the gross and subtle varieties. The finest songs of this world, says Shelley, are those that tell of saddest thoughts, pointing to the hollowness of sensuality. But this consolation is only a passing ray. As a matter of fact the song that does not portray new vanities stirs no emotion.

From Sri Chaitanya’s Teachings, by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada, pages 492-493