The real sin against life is to abuse and destroy beauty, even one’s own — even more, one’s own, for that has been put in our care and we are responsible for its well-being.
Katherine Anne Porter (1890-1980) American journalist, essayist, author, political activist [b. Callie Russell Porter] Ship of Fools, Part 3 [Freytag] (1962)
(Source)
Gradually we become tired of the old, of what we safely possess, and we stretch out our hands again. Even the most beautiful scenery is no longer assured of our love after we have lived in it for three months, and some more distant coast attracts our avarice: possessions are generally diminished by possession.
[Wir werden des Alten, sicher Besessenen allmählich überdrüssig und strecken die Hände wieder aus; selbst die schönste Landschaft, in der wir drei Monate leben, ist unserer Liebe nicht mehr gewiss, und irgend eine fernere Küste reizt unsere Habsucht an: der Besitz wird durch das Besitzen zumeist geringer.]
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German philosopher and poet The Gay Science [Die fröhliche Wissenschaft], Book 1, § 14 (1882) [tr. Kaufmann (1974)]
(Source)
Also known as La Gaya Scienza, The Joyful Wisdom, or The Joyous Science.
We gradually become satiated with the old, the securely possessed, and again stretch out our hands; even the finest landscape in which we live for three months is no longer certain of our love, and any kind of more distant coast excites our covetousness: the possession for the most part becomes smaller through possessing.
[tr. Common (1911)]
We slowly grow tired of the old, of what we safely possess, and we stretch our our hands again; even the most beautiful landscape is no longer sure of our love after we have lived in it for three months, and some more distant coast excites our greed: possession usually diminishes the possession.
[tr. Nauckhoff (2001)]
We gradually grow weary of the old, familiar things we securely hold, and again stretch forth our hands; even the most beautiful landscape lived in for three months is no longer assured of our love, and some more distant shore excites our avarice: what is had loses much in the having.
[tr. Hill (2018)]
On the other hand, even if we cannot see beauty in particular measured results, we can already claim to see a certain beauty in the equations which describe general physical laws. For example, in the wave equation (20.9), there’s something nice about the regularity of the appearance of the x, the y, the z, and the t. And this nice symmetry in appearance of the x, y, z, and t suggests to the mind still a greater beauty which has to do with the four dimensions, the possibility that space has four-dimensional symmetry, the possibility of analyzing that and the developments of the special theory of relativity. So there is plenty of intellectual beauty associated with the equations.
Richard Feynman (1918-1988) American physicist The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. 2, ch. 20 “Solutions of Maxwell’s Equations in Free Space,” sec. 20–3 “Scientific Imagination” (1964)
(Source)
There is no uniform of excellence, either in physical or spiritual nature: all genuine things are what they ought to be. The reindeer is good and beautiful, and so likewise is the elephant. In literature it is the same.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
“Jean Paul Friedrich Richter,” Edinburgh Review No. 91, Art. 7 (1827-06)
(Source)
A review of Heinrich Döring, Jean Paul Friedrich Richter's Life, with a Sketch of His Works (1826).
Hail, lady of no light footfall, And eyes not black, and nose not small,
And lips not dry, and hands not long, And, truly, not too nice a tongue,
The Formian bankrupt’s paramour. The Province calls you dainty? Your
Face, and not Lesbia’s, is the rage? O! dull and undiscerning age!
[Salve, nec minimo puella naso
nec bello pede nec nigris ocellis
nec longis digitis nec ore sicco
nec sane nimis elegante lingua,
decoctoris amica Formiani.
Ten provincia narrat esse bellam?
Tecum Lesbia nostra comparatur?
O saeclum insapiens et infacetum!]
Catullus (c. 84 BC – c. 54 BC) Latin poet [Gaius Valerius Catullus]
Carmina # 43 “To Mamurra’s Mistress” [tr. MacNaghten (1925)]
(Source)
Mamurra, also known as Formianus (from the province of Formiae), was an ally of Caesar, but enemy of Catullus. Catullus devotes a number of his odes to attacking Mamurra or, in a few cases, his mistress (who, in some sources, is named Amiana or Ameana).
The poem is noteworthy both for cateloguing unattractive traits (Roman poetry and art make it clear what was considered attractive), and for the final line in its condemnation of a land that would ever place the unnamed mistress over the beauties of Catullus' beloved Lesbia.
Though splaw thy feet, and snub thy nose,
Thy fingers short, and unlike sloes Thine eyes in hue may be;
Thy lip with driv'lling moisture dew'd
Thy language vulgar, manners rude, Yet, wanton, hail to thee!
And does the province praise thy grace;
And e'en presume thy form and face With Lesbia to compare?
Then why should I thy charms dispraise
'Mid vulgar fools, in tasteless days, 'Tis useless to be fair.
[tr. Lamb (1821)]
Though a decided snub your nose, Your feet the kind called stumpy,
Your eyes by no means black as sloes, Your fingers fat and dumpy;
Your lip not peachy soft, your speech Less aptr to charm than pain us;
Yet still I hail you, mistress frail Of spendthrift Formianus.
The province, bless its stupid soul! Is mad about your beauty,
So let me also pay my toll Of homage and of duty.
But then they say your shape, your grace, My Lesbia's, mine, surpasses!
Oh woe, to live with such a race Of buzzards, owls, and asses!
[tr. T. Martin (1861)]
Hail, maiden! with nor little nose, Nor pretty foot, nor jet-black eye, Nor fingers long, nor mouth e'er dry,
Nor tongue whence pleasing prattle flows.
You spendthrift Formian's heart engage; And doth the province call you fair, And Lesbia's charms with yours compare?
O witless and O boorish age!
[tr. Cranstoun (1867)]
Hail, fair virgin, a nose among the larger,
Feet not dainty, nor eyes to match a raven,
Mouth scarce tenible, hands not wholly faultless,
Tongue most surely not absolute refinement,
Bankrupt Formian, your declar'd devotion. Thou the beauty, the talk of all the province? Thou my Lesbia tamely think to rival?
O preposterous, empty generation!
[tr. Ellis (1871)]
Hail, girl who neither nose of minim size Owns, nor a pretty foot, nor jetty eyes,
Nor thin long fingers, nor mouth dry of slaver Nor yet too graceful tongue of pleasant flavour,
Leman to Formian that rake-a-hell. What, can the Province boast of thee as belle?
Thee with my Lesbia durst it make compare? O Age insipid, of all humour bare!
[tr. Burton (1893)]
Hail, girl with nose not the smallest, and with foot not lovely, and with eyes not black, and with fingers not long, and with mouth not dry and with tongue not so very elegant, the wench of the bankrupt Formian. And the province declares you to be lovely? With you our Lesbia is to be compared? O generation witless and unmannerly!
[tr. Smithers (1894)]
I greet you, lady, you who neither have a tiny nose, nor a pretty foot, nor black eyes, nor long fingers, nor dry mouth, nor indeed a very refined tongue, mistress of the bankrupt Formiae. Is it you who are pretty, as the Province tells us? is it with you that our Lesbia is compared? O, this age! how tasteless and illbred it is!
[tr. Warre Cornish (1904)]
Hail, maid with nose by no means small, foot by no means shapely, eyes by no means of jet, fingers by no means long, mouth by no means dry, speech by no means too refined, friend of the Formian waster. Do the provincials call you beautiful? Do they compare you with my Lesbia? Oh foolish and tasteless age!
[tr. Stuttaford (1912)]
Pshaw, little girl, you're much too small, You've scarcely any nose at all.
Your feet are shapeless, fingers, too, Your eyes a dull and faded blue.
With lips as parched as last year's peas. And silly tongue, untaught to please.
They say that Formian calls you fair. And that they praise you everywhere.
A dull and senseless age -- ah me. If they could Lesbia's beauty see!
[tr. Stewart (1915)]
Thy nose is broad and large thy feet, Thine eyes are neither dark nor clear,
Thy hands are squat, thy lips unsweet, Thy language shocks a decent ear.
Thy province swears that thou art fair, O mistress of a village beau!
Swears thou with Lesbia canst compare; O tasteless age, thy wits how slow!
[tr. Symons-Jeune (1923)]
Good morning, dear lady; your nose is too long, Your fingers too stumpy, your language too strong.
Your feet are ill shaped, and your lips wet with slobber, Your eyes pale and dull; and your lover's a robber,
Who won't pay his debts. Yet withal people hold You a beauty , when you're in the country, I'm told.
To think that dull fools for one instant should dare Your charms with my Lesbia's face to compare!
[tr. Wright (1926)]
Listen, girl: your nose is not too small and
your foot somehow lacks shapeliness, your eyes
are not so bright , your fingers though they should be
are neither long nor graceful , nor can your lips
(mouth dripping) be kissed for love, nor is your speech
soft music.
And this girl is the lady friend
of that debauched citizen Mamurra.
They say that you are lovely (rumours from the provinces)
comparing you with Lesbia.
The times are bad
and this an ignorant generation.
[tr. Gregory (1931)]
Greetings, girl! You haven't got much -- Neither small nose, nor a pretty foot,
Dark eyes, or slender hands to touch, No dry mouth; the way you put
Your phrases isn't neat at all, Mistress of the bankrupt man
From Formiae -- but Cisalpine Gaul Says you're lovely, lovelier than
My Lesbia, even? Oh, enough! This ignorant age -- how rude and rough!
[tr. Hollander (1976)]
Greetings ot you, girl of the nose not tiny,
the feet not pretty, eyes not darkly-shadowed,
stubby fat fingers, mouth forever spraying
language that shows us your lack of refinement,
whore of that bankrupt wastrel from Formiae!
Is it your beauty they praise in the province?
Do they compare you to our Lesbia?
Mindless this age. And insensitive, really.
[tr. C. Martin (1979)]
Hello, girl, neither with the smallest nose,
Nor with pretty feet nor with black little eyes
Nor with long fingers nor with dry lips
Nor clearly with a very refined tongue.
Girl/friend of the spendthrift from Formiae,
Does the province report that you are beautiful?
Is our Lesbia compared with you?
O tasteless and crude age!
[tr. Drudy (1997)]
Greetings, girl with a nose not the shortest,
feet not so lovely, eyes not of the darkest,
fingers not slender, mouth never healed,
and a not excessively charming tongue,
bankrupt Formianus’s ‘little friend’.
And the Province pronounces you beautiful?
To be compared to my Lesbia?
O witless and ignorant age!
[tr. Kline (2001)]
Hello, girl without the smallest nose
Nor pretty feet, nor dark eyes
Nor elegant fingers nor dry mouth
Nor language int he least refined
Girlfriend of that bankrupt from Formia.
So country people call you beautiful?!
Our Lesbia is compared with you?!
Oh, what a stupid and tasteless age this is!
[tr. Wikibooks (2017)]
Greetings, you girl with neither a little nose,
nor handsome feet, black little eyes
long fingers, a dry mouth,
and truly tongue not exceedingly elegant.
Girlfriend of the bankrupt of Formiae,
does the province say that you are beautiful?
Is our Lesbia compared with you?
Oh foolish and coarse generation!
[tr. Wikisource (2018)]
Howdy, girl with the not-small nose,
Feet not beautiful, eyes not black,
Fingers not long, the lips not dry,
A tongue not quite so elegant,
“Friend” of a Formian bankrupt.
The sticks proclaim you’re beautiful?
With you our Lesbia is compared?
O times, unthinking and vulgar!
[tr. @sentantiq (2021)]
Models of manly beauty are rare out of novels, and seldom interesting in them.
F. Anstey (1856-1934) English novelist and journalist (pseud. of Thomas Anstey Guthrie) The Brass Bottle, ch. 1 “Horace Ventimore Receives a Commission” (1900)
(Source)
I love the language, that soft bastard Latin,
Which melts like kisses from a female mouth,
And sounds as if it should be writ on satin,
With syllables which breathe of the sweet South,
And gentle liquids gliding all so pat in,
That not a single accent seems uncouth,
Like our harsh northern whistling, grunting guttural,
Which we’re obliged to hiss, and spit, and sputter all.
George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
“Beppo,” st. 44 (1818)
(Source)
When a twelfth-century youth fell in love he did not take three paces backward, gaze into her eyes, and tell her she was too beautiful to live. He said he would step outside and see about it. And if, when he got out, he met a man and broke his head — the other man’s head, I mean — then that proved that his — the first fellow’s — girl was a pretty girl. But if the other fellow broke his head — not his own, you know, but the other fellow’s — the other fellow to the second fellow, that is, because of course the other fellow would only be the other fellow to him, not the first fellow who — well, if he broke his head, then his girl — not the other fellow’s, but the fellow who was the — Look here, if A broke B’s head, then A’s girl was a pretty girl; but if B broke A’s head, then A’s girl wasn’t a pretty girl, but B’s girl was. That was their method of conducting art criticism.
Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) English writer, humorist [Jerome Klapka Jerome] Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, “On Being Idle” (1886)
(Source)
Nothing — so it seems to me — is more beautiful than the love that has weathered the storms of life. The sweet, tender blossom that flowers in the heart of the young — in hearts such as yours — that, too, is beautiful. The love of the young for the young, that is the beginning of life. But the love of the old for the old, that is the beginning of — of things longer.
Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) English writer, humorist [Jerome Klapka Jerome]
“Passing of the Third Floor Back” [The Stranger] (1908)
(Source)
I don’t like people who have never fallen or stumbled. Their virtue is lifeless and of little value. Life hasn’t revealed its beauty to them.
Boris Pasternak (1890-1960) Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator Doctor Zhivago [До́ктор Жива́го], Part 2, ch. 13 “Opposite the House of Sculptures,” sec. 12 [Yury] (1955) [tr. Hayward & Harari (1958), US ed.]
(Source)
Alternate translations:
I don't like people who have never fallen or stumbled. Their virtue is lifeless and it isn't of much value. Life hasn't revealed its beauty to them.
[tr. Hayward & Harari (1958), UK ed., "Opposite the House of the Caryatids"]
I don't like the righteous ones, who never fell, never stumbled. Their virtue is dead and of little value. The beauty of life has not been revealed to them.
[tr. Pevear & Volokhonsky (2010), "Opposite the House with Figures"]
Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; but that the good may not think it a great good, God dispenses it even to the wicked.
[Quod bonum Dei quidem donum est; sed propterea id largitur etiam malis, ne magnum bonum uideatur bonis.]
Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Christian church father, philosopher, saint [b. Aurelius Augustinus] City of God [De Civitate Dei], Book 15, ch. 22 (15.22) (AD 412-416) [tr. Dods (1871)]
(Source)
Referencing Genesis 6:1-4, and of the "sons of God" who fell in love with the physical beauty of the women of the earthly city.
Bodily beauty [...] is indeed a gift of God, but given to the evil also, lest the good should imagine it of any such great worth.
[tr. Healey (1610)]
Their beauty, in itself, was a gift of God, but it is the kind of gift which God gives even to the wicked so that good men may realize how slight a good it is.
[tr. Walsh/Monahan (1952)]
This beauty is indeed a good given by God, but he bestows it also on the wicked lest the good should regard it as a great good.
[tr. Levine (Loeb) (1966)]
Such beauty is certainly a good, a gift of God; but he bestows it on the evil as well as on the good for this reason, for fear that the good may consider it an important good.
[tr. Bettenson (1972)]
Such beauty is certainly a good, a gift from God; but He grants it to the evil also, lest it should come to seem too great a good to the good.
[tr. Dyson (1998)]
This good of beauty is indeed God's gift, but it is bestowed also on the wicked, so that it may not appear as a great blessing to those who are good.
[tr. Babcock (2012)]
I have never been in any rich man’s house which would not have looked the better for having a bonfire made outside of it of nine-tenths of all that it held.
William Morris (1834-1896) British textile designer, writer, socialist activist
“The Art of the People,” speech, Birmingham Society of Arts (1879-02-19)
(Source)
Michelangelo (1475-1564) Italian artist, architect, poet [Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni]
(Attributed)
This phrase is widely attributed to Michelangelo and, often noted as being from a letter to Rene Lui Descartes XIV (1540-03-06). But a search of several books of Michelangelo's letters finds no such letter with parts of that name or with that text.
The letter is almost always noted as being quoted in George Augustus Lofton, Character Sketches (1890). But the reference there merely gives the words of the quote; it says nothing about a letter, let alone a date or to whom it is sent.
The phrase, when rendered into Italian (la bellezza è la purificazione del superfluo or la bellezza è l'eliminazione del superfluo) can be found attributed to Michelangelo, but without citation.
That said, the phrase lines up with many other quotes attributed to Michelangelo, to the effect that statues consist of a figure "trapped" in marble (or whatever the medium), to be revealed by removing just enough stone but no more. E.g.,
Each block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the sculptor's job to discover it.
[Ogni blocco di pietra ha una statua dentro di sé ed è compito dello scultore scoprirla.]
Nothing the best of artists can conceive
but lies, potential, in a block of stone,
superfluous matter round it. The hand alone
can free it that has intelligence for guide.
[Non ha l’ottimo artista alcun concetto
ch’un marmo solo in sé non circonscriva
col suo superchio, e solo a quello arriva
la man che ubbidisce all’intelletto.]
I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist in his laboratory is not only a technician: he is also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress him like a fairy tale. We should not allow it to be believed that all scientific progress can be reduced to mechanisms, machines, gearings, even though such machinery also has its beauty.
Marie Curie (1867-1934) Polish-French physicist and chemist [b. Maria Salomea Skłodowska]
“The Future of Culture [L’Avenir de la Culture]” conference, Madrid (1933-05-03/07)
(Source)
One of Curie's last public addresses. As quoted in Eve Curie Labouisse, Madame Curie: A Biography, ch. 24 (1937) [tr. Sheean (1938)].
Alternate translation:
I believe that science has great beauty. A scientist int he laboratory is not a mere technician; he is also a child confronting natural phenomena that impress him as though they were fairy tales. We should not allow it to believed that all scientific progress can be reduced to mechanisms, machines, and gearings, even though such machine also has beauty.
[Source]
Everything beautiful and noble is the result of reason and calculation. Crime, of which the human animal has learned the taste in his mother’s womb, is natural by origin. Virtue, on the other hand, is artificial, supernatural, since at all times and in all places gods and prophets have been needed to teach it to animalized humanity, man being powerless to discover it by himself. Evil happens without effort, naturally, fatally; Good is always the product of some art.
[Tout ce qui est beau et noble est le résultat de la raison et du calcul. Le crime, dont l’animal humain a puisé le goût dans le ventre de sa mère, est originellement naturel. La vertu, au contraire, est artificielle, surnaturelle, puisqu’il a fallu, dans tous les temps et chez toutes les nations, des dieux et des prophètes pour l’enseigner à l’humanité animalisée, et que l’homme, seul, eût été impuissant à la découvrir. Le mal se fait sans effort, naturellement, par fatalité ; le bien est toujours le produit d’un art.]
Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) French poet, essayist, art critic “Le Peintre de la Vie Moderne [The Painter of Modern Life],” sec. 11 (1863) [tr. Mayne (1964)]
(Source)
Everything beautiful and noble is the result of reason and calculation. Crime, for which the human creature has acquired a taste in its mother’s womb, is natural in origin. Virtue, on the contrary, is artificial, unnatural since, at all times and among all nations, gods and prophets were necessary to teach virtue to animalistic humanity, which humanity alone was unable to discover. Evil occurs without effort, naturally, through fatality; good is always the product of artifice.
[tr. Kline (2020)]
Great artists say that the most beautiful thing in the world is a little baby. Well, the next most beautiful thing is an old lady, for every wrinkle is a picture.
Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Radio broadcast (1930-05-11)
(Source)
There is a legend about a bird that sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. Dying, it rises above its own agony to out-carol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of the great pain. … Or so says the legend.
Colleen McCullough (1937-2015) Australian author The Thorn Birds, Epigraph (1977)
(Source)
If he was fair as he is hideous now, and raised his brow in scorn of his creator, he is fit to be the source of every sorrow.
[S’el fu sì bel com’elli è ora brutto, e contra ’l suo fattore alzò le ciglia, ben dee da lui procedere ogne lutto.]
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Italian poet The Divine Comedy [Divina Commedia], Book 1 “Inferno,” Canto 34, l. 34ff (34.34) (1309) [tr. Hollander/Hollander (2007)]
(Source)
Describing Satan. As Lucifer he was the most beautiful and powerful of the angels; Dante suggests his rebellious ingratitude against God is a fit cause for all the sin and sorrow of the world.
As ugly now, if he as handsome was, And 'gainst his Maker rais'd his haughty brow; 'Tis right all wailings should from him proceed.
[tr. Rogers (1782)]
If his meridian glories, ere he fell,
Equal'd his horrible eclipse in Hell, No brighter Seraph led the heav'nly host:
And now, a tenant of the frozen tide,
The Rebel justly merits to preside O'er all the horrors of the Stygian coast.
[tr. Boyd (1802), st. 8]
If he were beautiful As he is hideous now, and yet did dare To scowl upon his Maker, well from him
May all our mis’ry flow.
[tr. Cary (1814)]
If he, once fair as he is foul of mien, Against his Maker arrogantly raised The brow, from him might well proceed, I ween,
All things disastrous.
[tr. Dayman (1843)]
If he was once as beautiful as he is ugly now, and lifted up his brows against his Maker, well may all affliction come from him.
[tr. Carlyle (1849)]
If he were beauteous once as ugly now, And 'gainst his Maker dared to lift his brow, From him well might we have proceeding woe.
[tr. Bannerman (1850)]
If first in beauty once as hideous now, And to his Maker lifting his proud eye, Well might he be the source of ev'ry grief.
[tr. Johnston (1867)]
Were he as fair once, as he now is foul, And lifted up his brow against his Maker, Well may proceed from him all tribulation.
[tr. Longfellow (1867)]
If he was as fair as he is now foul, and raised his brows against his Maker, rightly should all sorrow come forth from him.
[tr. Butler (1885)]
If he was once as fair as hideous now, And 'gainst his Maker raised his impious eyes, Full well from him would all contention flow.
[tr. Minchin (1885)]
If he was as fair as he now is foul, and against his Maker lifted up his brow, surely may all tribulation proceed from him.
[tr. Norton (1892)]
If once he was as fair as he is loathly, And raised his brows even against his Maker, Well may it be from him proceeds all mourning.
[tr. Griffith (1908)]
If he was as fair as he is now foul and lifted up his brows against his Maker, well may all sorrow come from him.
[tr. Sinclair (1939)]
If he was once fair as he is now foul, And 'gainst his Maker dared his brows to raise, Fitly from him all streams of sorrow roll.
[tr. Binyon (1943)]
If he was once as fair as now he's foul, And dared outface his Maker in rebellion, Well may he be the fount of all our dole.
[tr. Sayers (1949)]
If he was once as beautiful as now he is hideous, and still turned on his Maker, well may he be the source of every woe!
[tr. Ciardi (1954)]
If he was once as beautiful as he is ugly now, and lifted up his brows against his Maker, well may all sorrow proceed from him.
[tr. Singleton (1970)]
If once he was as fair as now he's foul and dared to raise his brows against his Maker, it is fitting that all grief should spring from him.
[tr. Musa (1971)]
If he was once as handsome as he now
is ugly and, despite that, raised his brows
against his Maker, one can understand how every sorrow has its source in him!
[tr. Mandelbaum (1980)]
If he was as beautiful as he now is ugly, And yet dared to rebel against his maker, Well may he be the source of all mourning.
[tr. Sisson (1981)]
If he was truly once as beautiful As he is ugly now, and raised his brows Against his Maker -- then all sorrow may well
Come out of him.
[tr. Pinsky (1994)]
If he was as beautiful then as now he is ugly, when he lifted his brow against his Maker, well must all grieving proceed from him.
[tr. Durling (1996)]
If he was once as fair, as he is now ugly, and lifted up his forehead against his Maker, well may all evil flow from him.
[tr. Kline (2002)]
If, once, he was as lovely as now vile, when first he raised his brow against his maker, then truly grief must all proceed from him.
[tr. Kirkpatrick (2006)]
If ever his beauty could match the ugliness I saw, and he lifted arrogant brows at his Maker, I understand how sorrow was born that day.
[tr. Raffel (2010)]
If his beauty was
a match for all the foulness he has now,
We see that all our sorrow came because
He set his face against his Maker.
[tr. James (2013), l. 40ff]
There, all is order and loveliness,
Luxury, calm and voluptuousness.
[Là, tout n’est qu’ordre et beauté,
Luxe, calme et volupté.]
Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) French poet, essayist, art critic Les Fleurs du Mal [The Flowers of Evil], # 49 “L’Invitation au Voyage [Invitation to the Voyage],” ll. 13-14 (1857 ed) [tr. Scott (1909)]
(Source)
Also in the 1861 ed. (#53) and the 1868 ed. (#54). (Source (French)). Alternate translations:
There all is beauty and symmetry,
Pleasure and calm and luxury.
[tr. Squire (1909)]
Where everything is beautiful, rich, quiet, honest; where order is the likeness and the mirror of luxury; where life is fat, and sweet to breathe.
[tr. Symons (1913), prose poem version]
There, restraint and order bless
Luxury and voluptuousness.
[tr. Millay (1936)]
There'll be nothing but beauty, wealth, pleasure,
With all things in order and measure.
[tr. Campbell (1952)]
There all is order and beauty,
Luxury, peace, and pleasure.
[tr. Aggeler (1954)]
All is order there, and elegance,
pleasure, peace, and opulence.
[tr. Howard (1982)]
Everything there is order and beauty, luxury, calm, voluptuousness.
[tr. Scarfe (1986)]
There, all is order and leisure,
Luxury, beauty, and pleasure.
[tr. McGowan (1993)]
There, there is nothing but order and beauty, luxury, calm and sensual pleasure.
[tr. Clark (1995)]
It is a land of perfect peace,
Beauty and joy that never cease.
[tr. Lerner (1999)]
Come to think of it, I don’t know that love has a point, which is what makes it so glorious. Sex has a point, in terms of relief and, sometimes, procreation, but love, like all art, as Oscar said, is quite useless. It is the useless things that make life worth living and that make life dangerous too: wine, love, art, beauty. Without them life is safe, but not worth bothering with.
Stephen Fry (b. 1957) British actor, writer, comedian Moab Is My Washpot, “Falling In,” ch. 6 (1997)
(Source)
Referencing Oscar Wilde from the preface of The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890): "All art is quite useless".
The pleasures of the table — that lovely old-fashioned phrase — depict food as an art form, as a delightful part of civilized life. In spite of food fads, fitness programs, and health concerns, we must never lose sight of a beautifully conceived meal.
Julia Child (1912-2004) American chef and writer The Way to Cook, Introduction (1989)
(Source)
Self-respect cannot be hunted. It cannot be purchased. It is never for sale. It cannot be fabricated out of public relations. It comes to us when we are alone, in quiet moments, in quiet places, when we suddenly realize that, knowing the good, we have done it; knowing the beautiful, we have served it; knowing the truth, we have spoken it.
Whitney Griswold (1906–1963) American historian, educator [Alfred Whitney Griswold]
“Society’s Need for Man,” Baccalaureate Address, Yale University (1957-06-09)
(Source)
Taught from infancy that beauty is woman’s sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison.
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) English social philosopher, feminist, writer A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, ch. 3 (1792)
(Source)
Da Vinci Folio A. 10 r. Red bracket to the right side of the quoted text (which is written in mirrored form). (Source)
The art of procreation and the members employed therein are so repulsive, that if it were not for the beauty of the faces and the adornments of the actors and the pent-up impulse, nature would lose the human species.
[L’atto del coito e li membri a quello adoperati son di tanta bruttura che se non fussi le bellezze de’ volti e li ornamenti delli operanti e la frenata disposizione, la natura perderebbe la spezie umana.]
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) Italian artist, engineer, scientist, polymath Notebooks, De Anatomia, folio A. 10 r. [tr. McCurdy (1939)]
(Source)
The act of procreation and everything that has any relation to it is so disgusting that human beings would soon die out if it were not a traditional custom and if there were no pretty faces and sensuous dispositions.
[tr. Brill (1916), after Freud (1910)]
The act of procreation and anything that has any relation to it is so disgusting that human beings would soon die out if there were no pretty faces and sensuous dispositions.
[Variant tr. Brill (1916), after Freud (1910)]
The act of procreation and everything connected with it is so disgusting that mankind would soon die out if it were not an old-established custom and if there were not pretty faces and sensuous natures.
[tr. Tyson (1961), after Freud (1910)]
The act of coition and the members employed are so ugly that but for the beauty of the faces, the adornments of their partners and the frantic urge, Nature would lose the human race.
[tr. Dalwood (1962) after Bataille (1957)]
The act of copulation and the members employed are so repulsive, that if it were not for the beauty of faces and the adornments of the actors and unbridled passion, nature would lose the human race.
[tr. Armstrong (2013), after Nancy (2009)]
Rich men’s houses are seldom beautiful, rarely comfortable, and never original. It is a constant source of surprise to people of moderate means to observe how little a big fortune contributes to Beauty.
Margot Asquith (1864-1945) British socialite, author, wit [Emma Margaret Asquith, Countess Oxford and Asquith; Margot Oxford; née Tennant] Autobiography, Vol. 2, 5 May 1908 (1922)
(Source)
A soiled baby, with a neglected nose, cannot be conscientiously regarded as a thing of beauty; and inasmuch as babyhood spans but three short years, no baby is competent to be a joy “forever.”
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
“Answers to Correspondents,” Sketches New and Old (1875)
(Source)
Ostensibly in response to a "Young Mother" who had written that her new baby was a thing of beauty and a joy forever.
Your lady friends are ill to see, All old or ugly as can be,
And in their company you go To banquet, play, and portico;
This hideous background you prepare To seem, by contrast, young and fair.
[Omnes aut vetulas habes amicas
Aut turpes vetulisque foediores.
Has ducis comites trahisque tecum
Per convivia, porticus, theatra.
Sic formosa, Fabulla, sic puella es.]
Martial (AD c.39-c.103) Spanish Roman poet, satirist, epigrammatist [Marcus Valerius Martialis] Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 8, epigram 79 (8.79) (AD 94) [tr. Pott & Wright (1921), “The Contrast”]
(Source)
All thy companions aged beldames are, Or more deform'd than age makes any, far:
These cattle at thy heels thou trail'st always To public walks, to suppers, and to plays.
'Cause when with such alone we thee compare, Thou canst be said, Fabulla, young or fair.
[tr. Killigrew (1695)]
All the companions of her grace, I'm told, Are either very plan, or very old.
With these she visits: these she drags about, To play, to ball, assembly, auctions, rout:
With these she sups: with these she takes the air. Without such foils is lady dutchess fair?
[tr. Hay (1755)]
Old women are thine only friends; Or rivals, safe as they.
No other face thy face attends, To table, porch or play.
Fabulla, thus thou beauteous art, And thus thou still art young.
Oh! solace to my eyes impart; Or silence to my tongue.
[tr. Elphinston (1782), Book 6, Part 3, ep. 94]
All your female friends are either old or ugly; nay, more ugly than old women usually are. These you lead about in your train, and drag with you to feasts, porticoes, and theatres. Thus, Fabulla, you seem handsome, thus you seem young.
[tr. Bohn's Classical (1859)]
All the female friends you have are either old crones or ugly, and fouler than old crones. These, as your companions, you conduct and drag about with you through parties, colonnades, theaters. In this way, Fabulla, you are lovely, in this way young.
[tr. Ker (1919)]
The friends that old Fabulla owns Are harridans and ancient crones,
Ill-favored witches, what you will; These are her constant comrades still
To banquets, theatres, and shows; So ever fair and young she goes.
[tr. Francis & Tatum (1924), ep. 442]
The only female friends she has Are old or ugly crows.
These she drags along with her To parties, visits, shows.
So it's no cause for wonder that Amidst such company
She's young, attractive, beautiful -- Almost a joy to see!
[tr. Marcellino (1968)]
Her women friends are all old hags Or, worse, hideous girls. She drags
Them with her everywhere she goes -- To parties, theaters, porticoes.
Clever Fabulla! Set among Those foils you shine, even look young.
[tr. Michie (1972)]
All your women friends are either old hags or frights uglier than old hags. These are your companions whom you bring with you and trail through dinner parties, colonnades, theaters. In this way, Fabullla, you are a beauty, you are a girl.
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1993)]
With women you keep company Who are ugly as can be.
These ancient frights you take along To show off in your social throng.
You hope that we will make compare, So even you look young and fair.
[tr. Wills (2007)]
All your friends are ancient hags or eyesores uglier than those.
These are the company you drag to banquets, plays, and porticoes.
Fabulla, when you're seen among such friends, you're beautiful and young.
[tr. McLean (2014)]
There is a road from the eye to the heart that does not go through the intellect. Men do not quarrel about the meaning of sunsets; they never dispute that the hawthorn says the best and wittiest thing about the spring.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) English journalist and writer
“A Defence of Heraldry,” The Defendant (1901)
(Source)
Beauty is unbearable, drives us to despair, offering us for a minute the glimpse of an eternity that we should like to stretch out over the whole of time.
Albert Camus (1913-1960) Algerian-French novelist, essayist, playwright Notebooks: 1935-1942 Notebook 1, May 1935 [tr. Thody (1963)
(Source)
Frodo drew the Ring out of his pocket again and looked at it. It now appeared plain and smooth, without mark or device that he could see. The gold looked very fair and pure, and Frodo thought how rich and beautiful was its colour, how perfect was its roundness. It was an admirable thing and altogether precious.
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien] The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 1, ch. 2 “The Shadow of the Past” (1954)
(Source)
Observe that part of a beautiful woman where she is perhaps the most beautiful, about the neck and breasts; the smoothness; the softness; the easy and insensible swell; the variety of the surface, which is never for the smallest space the same; the deceitful maze, through which the unsteady eye slides giddily, without knowing where to fix, or whither it is carried. Is not this a demonstration of that change of surface continual and yet hardly perceptible at any point which forms one of the great constituents of beauty?
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful, 3.15 (1756)
(Source)
As the love increases in thee, so the loveliness increases: for love is itself the beauty of the soul.
Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Christian church father, philosopher, saint [b. Aurelius Augustinus] Homilies on the 1st Epistle of John [Tractatus in epistulam Ioannis ad Parthos], Homily 9 [tr. Browne (1888)]
Beauty always has an element of strangeness. I do not mean a deliberate cold form of strangeness, for in that case it would be a monstrous thing that had jumped the rails of life. But I do mean that it always contains a certain degree of strangeness, of simple, unintended, unconscious strangeness, and that this form of strangeness is what gives it the right to be called beauty.
[Le Beau est toujours bizarre. Je ne veux pas dire qu’il soit volontairement, froidement bizarre, car dans ce cas il serait un monstre sorti des rails de la vie. Je dis qu’il contient toujours un peu de bizarrerie, de bizarrerie naive, non voulue, inconsciente, et que c’est cette bizarrerie qui le fait être particulièrement le Beau.]
Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) French poet, essayist, art critic
“The Universal Exhibition of 1855 [Exposition Universelle de 1855],” sec. 1 (1855) [tr. Charvet (1972)]
(Source)
Frequently paraphrased as "Strangeness is a necessary ingredient in beauty." See also Bacon.
The Beautiful is always strange. I do not mean that it is coldly, deliberately strange, for in that case it would be a monstrosity that had jumped the rails of life. I mean that it always contains a touch of strangeness, of simple, unpremeditated and unconscious strangeness, and that it is in this touch of strangeness that gives it its particular quality as Beauty.
[tr. Mayne (1965)]
Beauty is always bizarre. I do not mean to say that it is deliberately, coldly bizarre, for in that case it would be a monster that has escaped from the confines of existence. I mean that it always contains a certain amount of strangeness, naïve strangeness, unforced and even unconscious, and that it is this strangeness that stamps it as Beautiful.
[tr. Gregory (1961)]
You’re rich and young, as all confess, And none denies your loveliness;
But when we hear your boastful tongue You’re neither pretty, rich, nor young.
[Bella es, novimus, et puella, verum est,
Et dives, quis enim potest negare?
Sed cum te nimium, Fabulla, laudas,
Nec dives neque bella nec puella es.]
Martial (AD c.39-c.103) Spanish Roman poet, satirist, epigrammatist [Marcus Valerius Martialis] Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 1, epigram 64 (1.64) (AD 85-86) [tr. Pott & Wright (1921), “The Boaster”]
(Source)
Of beautie braue we knowe thou art, and eke a maide beside:
Abounding eke in wealthe and store, this ne maie bee denied.
But while to much you praise your self, and boste you all surmount:
Ne riche, ne faire, Fabulla, nor A maide we can you counte.
[tr. Kendall (1577)]
You're fayre, I know't; and modest too, 't is true; And rich you are; well, who denyes it you?
But whilst your owne prayse you too much proclame, Of modest, rich, and fayre you loose the same.
[17th C Manuscript]
Faire, rich, and yong? how rare is her perfection, Were it not mingled with one soule infection?
I meane, so proud a heart, so curst a tongue, As makes her seeme, nor faire, nor rich, nor yong.
[tr. Harington (fl. c. 1600), ep. 291; Book 4, ep. 37 "Of a faire Shrew"]
Th' art faire Fabulla, tis most true, Rich, yongue, there's none denies thy due.
But whilest thy selfe dost too much boast, Thy youth, thy wealth, thy beautie's lost.
[tr. May (1629)]
Genteel 't is true, O nymph, you are; You're rich and beauteous to a hair.
But while too much you praise yourself, You've neither air, nor charms, nor pelf.
[tr. Gent. Mag. (1746)]
Pretty thou art, we know; a pretty maid! A rich one, too, it cannot be gainsay'd.
But when thy puffs we hear, thy pride we see; Thou neither rich, nor fair, nor maid canst be.
[tr. Elphinston (1782), Book 6, Part 3, ep. 48; Bohn labels this as Anon.]
You are pretty, -- we know it; and young, --it is true; and rich, -- who can deny it? But when you praise yourself extravagantly, Fabulla, you appear neither rich, nor pretty, nor young.
[tr. Bohn's Classical (1859)]
Fabulla, it's true you're a fair ingénue,
And your wealth is on every one's tongue: But your loud self-conceit Makes people you meet
Think you neither fair, wealthy, nor young.
[tr. Nixon (1911), "The Egoist"]
You are beautiful, we know, and young, that is true, and rich -- for who can deny it? But while you praise yourself overmuch, Fabulla, you are neither rich, nor beautiful, nor young.
[tr. Ker (1919)]
You’re beautiful, oh yes, and young, and rich;
But since you tell us so, you’re just a bitch.
[tr. Humphries (1963)]
It's true enough, Fabulla, you are by you, Fabulla, you aren't rich, or beautiful, or young. Bovie (1970)]
That you're young, beautiful and rich, Fabulla, no one can deny.
But when you praise yourself too much, None of the epithets apply.
[tr. Michie (1972)]
You're beautiful, oh yes, and young, and rich;
But since you tell us so, you're just a bitch.
[tr. Humphries (<1987)]
You are pretty: we know. You are young: true. And rich: who can deny it? But when you praise yourself too much, Fabulla, you are neither rich nor pretty nor young.
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1993)]
You're rich, and young, and beautiful! It's true, and who can doubt it?
But less and less we feel that pull The more you talk about it.
[tr. Ericsson (1995)]
Of debutantes you are beyond compare -- So wealthy, beautiful, and debonair.
Yet you make all this matter not a whit: Your beauty to undo -- you boast of it.
[tr. Wills (2007)]
You’re lovely, yes, and young, it’s true,
and rich -- who can deny your wealth?
But you aren’t lovely, young or rich,
Fabulla, when you praise yourself.
[tr. McLean (2014)]
I, having built a house, reject
The feud of eye and intellect,
And find in my experience proof
One pleasure runs from root to roof,
One thrust along a streamline arches
The sudden star, the budding larches.
The force that makes the winter grow
Its feathered hexagons of snow,
and drives the bee to match at home
Their calculated honeycomb,
Is abacus and rose combined.
An icy sweetness fills my mind,
A sense that under thing and wing
Lies, taut yet living, coiled, the spring.
Jacob Bronowski (1908-1974) Polish-English humanist and mathematician
“The Abacus and the Rose” [Potts], Science and Human Values (1965 ed.)
(Source)
Dear indolent, I love to see,
in your body bright,
How like shimmering silk the skin
Reflects the light!
[…]
When you walk in rhythm, lovely
With abandonment,
You seem to be swayed by a wand,
A dancing serpent.
Que j’aime voir, chère indolente,
De ton corps si beau,
Comme une étoffe vacillante,
Miroiter la peau!
[…]
À te voir marcher en cadence,
Belle d’abandon,
On dirait un serpent qui danse
Au bout d’un bâton.
Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) French poet, essayist, art critic Les Fleurs du Mal [The Flowers of Evil], Part 1, #29 “Le Serpent qui danse [The Dancing Serpent],” st. 1, 5 (1857) [tr. Gibbs (1947)]
(Source)
I love to watch, while you are lazing,
Your skin. It iridesces
Like silk or satin, smoothly-glazing
The light that it caresses.
[...]
To see you rhythmically advancing
Seems to my fancy fond
As if it were a serpent dancing
Waved by the charmer’s wand.
[tr. Campbell (1952), #28 "The Snake That Dances"]
Indolent darling, how I love
To see the skin
Of your body so beautiful
Shimmer like silk!
[...]
To see you walking in cadence
With fine abandon,
One would say a snake which dances
On the end of a staff.
[tr. Aggeler (1954) "The Dancing Serpent"]
Indolent love, with what delight
I watch the tawny flesh
Of your sweet body shimmer bright
As a bright silken mesh.
[...]
Your sinuous cadenced walk enhancing
Your slim proud gait, a frond
Swaying, you are, or a snake dancing
Atop a fakir's wand.
[tr. LeClercq (1958) "Dancing Serpent"]
How I love to watch, dear indolent creature,
The skin of your so
Beautiful body glisten, like some
Quivering material!
[...]
Seeing your harmonious walk,
Abandoned beauty,
One would say a snake was dancing
At the end of a stick.
[tr. Wagner (1974) "The Dancing Serpent"]
Dear indolent! I love to see
with every move you make
the iridescence of your skin
gleam like watered silk.
[...]
And when you walk to cadences
of sinuous nonchalance,
it looks as if a serpent danced
in rhythm to a wand.
[tr. Howard (1982) "As If A Serpent Danced"]
How I adore, dear indolent,
Your lovely body, when
Like silken cloth it shimmers --
Your sleek and glimmering skin!
[...]
Viewing the rhythm of your walk,
Beautifully dissolute,
One seems to see a serpent dance
Before a wand and flute.
[tr. McGowan (1993), "The Dancing Serpent"]
How love to look, dear indolent one, at your beautiful body and see, like a shot silk, the changing gleam of your skin! [...]
Seeing your rhythmic walk, beautiful in its abandon, one thinks of a serpent dancing at the head of a stick.
[tr. Clark (1995), #18 "The Dancing Serpent"]
How I love, dear lazybones, to see how the skin of your beautiful body sparkles like cloth billowing [...]
To see you walk in cadence, fair unconstrained, brings to mind a serpent dancing at the prodding of a stick.
[tr. Waldrop (2006), "Dancing Serpent"]
The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien] The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, ch. 6 “Lothlórien” [Haldir] (1954)
(Source)
At that,
as she turned away her neck shone with a rosy glow,
her mane of hair gave off an ambrosial fragrance,
her skirt flowed loose, rippling down to her feet
and her stride alone revealed her as a goddess.
[Dixit et avertens rosea cervice refulsit,
Ambrosiaeque comae divinum vertice odorem
Spiravere; pedes vestis defluxit ad imos,
Et vera incessu patuit dea.]
Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil] The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 1, l. 402ff (1.402-405) (29-19 BC) [tr. Fagles (2006), l. 487ff]
(Source)
Therefore goe on (she said) as leads the way,
And turning did her rosie neck display,
When her Ambrosian haire a heavenly sweet
Breaths from her head, robes flow beneath her feet,
Her Gate a Godesse shewes.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]
Thus having said, she turn'd, and made appear
Her neck refulgent, and dishevel'd hair,
Which, flowing from her shoulders, reach'd the ground.
And widely spread ambrosial scents around:
In length of train descends her sweeping gown;
And, by her graceful walk, the Queen of Love is known.
[tr. Dryden (1697)]
She said, and turning away, shone radiant with her rosy neck, and from her head ambrosial locks breathed divine fragrance: her robe hung flowing to the ground, and by her gait the goddess stood confessed.
[tr. Davidson/Buckley (1854)]
She turned, and flashed upon their view
Her stately neck's purpureal hue;
Ambrosial tresses round her head
A more than earthly fragrance shed:
Her falling robe her footprints swept,
And showed the goddess as she stept.
[tr. Conington (1866)]
She said; and turning, gleamed with rosy neck,
And from her head divinest odors breathed
In her ambrosial hair. Around her feet
Floated her flowing robe; and in her gait
All the true goddess was revealed.
[tr. Cranch (1872), l. 524ff]
Speaking she turned away, and her neck shone roseate, her immortal tresses breathed the fragrance of deity; her raiment fell flowing down to her feet, and the godhead was manifest in her tread.
[tr. Mackail (1885)]
She spake, she turned, from rosy neck the light of heaven she cast,
And from her hair ambrosial the scent of Gods went past
Upon the wind, and o'er her feet her skirts fell shimmering down,
And very God she went her ways.
[tr. Morris (1900), l. 402ff]
So saying, she turned, and all refulgent showed
Her roseate neck, and heavenly fragrance sweet
Was breathed from her ambrosial hair. Down flowed
Her loosened raiment, streaming to her feet,
And by her walk the Goddess shone complete.
[tr. Taylor (1907), st. 53; l. 478ff]
She ceased and turned away. A roseate beam
from her bright shoulder glowed; th' ambrosial hair
breathed more than mortal sweetness, while her robes
fell rippling to her feet. Each step revealed
the veritable goddess.
[tr. Williams (1910)]
She spoke, and as she turned away, her roseate neck flashed bright. From her head her ambrosial tresses breathed celestial fragrance; down to her feet fell her raiment, and in her step she was revealed a very goddess.
[tr. Fairclough (1916)]
And as she turned, her shoulders
Shone with a radiant light; her hair shed fragrance,
Her robes slipped to her feet, and the true goddess
Walked in divinity.
[tr. Humphries (1951)]
She spoke. She turned away; and as she turned, her neck
Glowed to a rose-flush, her crown of ambrosial hair breathed out
A heavenly fragrance, her robe flowed down, down to her feet,
And in gait she was all a goddess.
[tr. Day Lewis (1952)]
Those were the words of Venus. When she turned,
her neck was glittering with a rose brightness;
her hair anointed with ambrosia,
her head gave all a fragrance of the gods;
her gown was long and to the ground; even
her walk was sign enough she was a goddess.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1971), l. 572ff]
On this she turned away. Rose-pink and fair
Her nape shone, her ambrosial hair exhaled
Divine perfume, her gown rippled full length,
And by her stride she showed herself a goddess.
[tr. Fitzgerald (1981), l. 552ff]
When she was finished speaking and was turning way, her neck shone with a rosy light and her hair breathed the divine odor of ambrosia. Her dress flowed free to her feet and as she walked he knew she was truly a goddess.
[tr. West (1990)]
She spoke, and turning away she reflected the light
from her rose-tinted neck, and breathed a divine perfume
from her ambrosial hair: her robes trailed down to her feet,
and, in her step, showed her a true goddess.
[tr. Kline (2002)]
She spoke, and as she turned, her neck
Shone with roselight. An immortal fragrance
From her ambrosial locks perfumed the air,
Her robes flowed down to cover her feet,
And every step revealed her divinity.
[tr. Lombardo (2005)]
As she turned away, her neck gleamed rosily, her ambrosial hair gave off a divine scent and her robes grew longer, flowing to her feet. Her gait too revealed the goddess.
[tr. Bartsch (2021)]
I praise your body’s beauty. “Quite enough,” Galla, you say, “it’s better in the buff.”
Let’s go a-bathing then, but you decline. Galla, are you afraid you won’t like mine?
[Cum faciem laudo, cum miror crura manusque,
Dicere, Galla, soles ‘Nuda placebo magis,’
Et semper vitas communia balnea nobis.
Numquid, Galla, times, ne tibi non placeam?]
Martial (AD c.39-c.103) Spanish Roman poet, satirist, epigrammatist [Marcus Valerius Martialis] Epigrams [Epigrammata], Book 3, epigram 51 (3.51) (AD 87-88) [tr. Barger]
(Source)
When ore I praise thy face, hand, leg; far more
(Thou sayst) I'd like thee, if all naked ore;
Yet still thou shun'st the common Baths with me;
Fear'st thou that I should not be lik'd by thee?
[tr. May (1629), 3.50]
When, Galla, thy face, hands, and legs I admire, Thou say'st, I, when naked more pleasing shall be.
Yet, one common bath, I full vainly require: Dost fear that I shall not be pleasing to thee?
[tr. Elphinston (1782), Book 4, Part 3 ep. 38]
When I praise your face, when I admire your limbs and hands, You tell me, Galla, "In nature's garments I shall please you still better."
Yet you always avoid the same baths with myself! Do you fear, Galla, that I shall not please you?
[tr. Bohn's Classical (1859)]
When I compliment your face, when I admire your legs and hands,
You are accustomed to say, Galla: "Naked I shall please you more,"
And yet you continually avoid taking a bath with me.
Surely you are not afraid, Galla, that I shall not please you?
[tr. Ker (1919)]
Whene'er I praise your legs and arms,
Your eyes and rosy cheeks admire,
You whisper low -- "My hidden charms A deeper wonder will inspire."
And yet whenever I suggest
A bath together, you say no,
Perhaps you fear that when undressed Without my clothes I shall not do.
[tr. Pott & Wright (1921)]
When I praise your face and lovely hands Or to your legs allude,
This is what you always say: "I'm nicer in the nude."
And yet you constantly decline To go to the Baths with me.
Are you afraid you'll be displeased With my own nudity?
[tr. Marcellino (1968)]
When I say how I like your face, Galla,
and admire your hands and your legs
you observe "I'm even nicer in the nude."
But you don't go to the baths when I do.
Are you afraid to look at me?
[tr. Bovie (1970)]
When I praise your face and admire your legs and hands, Galla, you are apt to say: "You'll like me better naked." And yet you always avoid taking a bath with me. Can it be, Galla, that you are afraid you may not like me?
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1993)]
I praise your face and figure as divine "But if you saw me nude -- I really shine"
Yet rather than shed clothes you seek distraction Because a letdown will be my reaction?
[tr. Wills (2007)]
When I admire your face and legs and hands, "You'll like me better nude," you always tease.
Yet, Galla, you won't bathe with me in public. Am I the one you fear will fail to please?
[tr. McLean (2014)]
The very women who object to the morals of a notoriously beautiful actress, grow big with pride when an admirer suggests their marked resemblance to this stage beauty in physique.
Minna Antrim (1861-1950) American epigrammatist, writer Naked Truth and Veiled Allusions (1901)
After nine months of familiarity with this panorama, I still think, as I thought in the beginning, that this is the fairest picture on our planet, the most enchanting to look upon, the most satisfying to the eye and the spirit. To see the sun sink down, drowned on his pink and purple and golden floods, and overwhelm Florence with tides of color that make all the sharp lines dim and faint and turn the solid city to a city of dreams, is a sight to stir the coldest nature, and make a sympathetic one drunk with ecstasy.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens] Mark Twain’s Autobiography, “Chapters Added in Florence (1904)” (1924) [ed. Bigelow]
(Source)
Recounting his previous stay in, and view of, Florence, Italy, starting in 26 September 1892; written while again staying there in 1904.
If a man should ascend alone into heaven and behold clearly the structure of the universe and the beauty of the stars, there would be no pleasure for him in the awe-inspiring sight, which would have filled him with delight if he had had someone to whom he could describe what he had seen.
[Si quis in coelum ascendisset, naturamque mundi, et pulchritudinem siderum perspexisset, insuavem illam admirationem ei fore; quae jucudissima fuisset, si aliquem, cui narraret, habuisset.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher Laelius De Amicitia [Laelius on Friendship], ch. 23 / sec. 88 (44 BC) [tr. Falconer (1923)]
(Source)
Original Latin. Cicero attributes this as a paraphrase of Archytas of Tarentum (d. 394 BC), a Pythagorean philosopher and astronomer. Alternate translations:
If any one could have ascended to the sky, and surveyed the structure of the universe, and the beauty of the stars, that such admiration would be insipid to him; and yet it would be most delightful if he had someone to whom he might describe it.
[tr. Edmonds (1871)]
If one had ascended to heaven, and had obtained a full view of the nature of the universe and the beauty of the stars, yet his admiration would be without delight, if there were no one to whom he could tell what he had seen.
[tr. Peabody (1887)]
If a man could ascend to heaven and get a clear view of the natural order of the universe, and the beauty of the heavenly bodies, that wonderful spectacle would give him small pleasure, though nothing could be conceived more delightful if he had but had some one to whom to tell what he had seen.
[tr. Shuckburgh (1909)]
If a man could mount to heaven and survey the mighty universe with all the planetary orbs, his admiration of its beauties would be much diminished, unless he had someone to share in his pleasure.
[Source]
No object is so ugly that, under certain conditions of light and shade, or proximity to other things, it will not look beautiful; no object is so beautiful that, under certain conditions, it will not look ugly.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet, wit, dramatist
Lecture to Art Students, Royal Academy, London (30 Jun 1883)
(Source)
Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be said about it. It is like the perfume of a rose: you can smell it and that is all.
W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) English novelist and playwright [William Somerset Maugham] Cakes and Ale, ch. 11 (1930)
(Source)
Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless; peacocks and lilies for instance; at least I suppose this quill I hold in my hand writes better than a peacock’s would, and the peasants of Vevay, whose fields in spring time are as white with lilies as the Dent du Midi is with its snow, told me the hay was none the better for them.
John Ruskin (1819-1900) English art critic, painter, writer, social thinker The Stones of Venice, ch. 2 “The Virtues of Architecture,” sec. 17 (1851)
(Source)
For even the humblest person, a day spent without the sight or sound of beauty, the contemplation of mystery, or the search for truth and perfection is a poverty-stricken day; and a succession of such days is fatal to human life.
Lewis Mumford (1895-1990) American writer, philosopher, historian, architect The Condition of Man (1944)
(Source)
Glamour. Elves are beautiful. They’ve got style. Beauty. Grace. That’s what matters. If cats looked like frogs we’d realize what nasty, cruel little bastards they are. Style. That’s what people remember.
Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author Lords and Ladies [Granny Weatherwax] (1992)
(Source)
A full bosom is actually a millstone around a woman’s neck: it endears her to the men who want to make their mammet of her, but she is never allowed to think that their popping eyes actually see her.
Your breasts are like gazelles, twin deer feeding among lilies.
The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Song of Solomon (Song of Songs) 4:5 [GNT (1976)]
(Source)
Repeated in 7:3 (in some translations 7:4).
Alternate translations:
Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.
[KJV (1611)]
Your two breasts are two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that feed among the lilies.
[JB (1966); NJB (1985)]
Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle doe, that graze among the lilies.
[CEB (2011)]
Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that feed among the lilies.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]
Your breasts are like two fawns,
Twins of a gazelle,
Browsing among the lilies.
[RJPS (2023 ed.)]
Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike. This natural beauty-hunger is made manifest in the little window-sill gardens of the poor, though perhaps only a geranium slip in a broken cup, as well as in the carefully tended rose and lily gardens of the rich, the thousands of spacious city parks and botanical gardens, and in our magnificent National parks.
John Muir (1838-1914) Scottish-American naturalist The Yosemite, ch. 15 “Hetch Hetchy Valley” (1912)
(Source)
The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1926-2004) Swiss-American psychiatrist, author Death: The Final Stage of Growth (1975)
(Source)
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.
[Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, deerit nihil.]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher Epistulae ad Familiares [Letters to Friends], Book 9, Letter 4 “To Varro” (9.4) (46-45 BC)
In June 708 AUC. Sometimes rendered "nihil deerit."
Alt. trans.: "If you have a garden in your library, everything will be complete." [Source].
Youth is full of sunshine and life. Youth is happy, because it has the ability to see beauty. When this ability is lost, wretched old age begins, decay, unhappiness. […] Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.
Franz Kafka (1883-1924) Czech-Austrian Jewish writer
In Gustav Janouch, Conversations with Kafka (1951; 1971 ed.)
Margaret Wolfe Hungerford (1855-1897) Irish novelist Molly Bawn (1878)
(Source)
The first formulation of this precise phrase in print. The speaker "quotes" the words, as the sentiment was already widespread (believed to have originated from Hume).
Beauty is no quality in things themselves: It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty. One person may even perceive deformity, where another is sensible of beauty; and every individual ought to acquiesce in his own sentiment, without pretending to regulate those of others.
David Hume (1711-1776) Scottish philosopher, economist, historian, empiricist
“Of the Standard of Taste” (1739)
(Source)
Who on earth could blame them? Ah, no wonder
the men of Troy and Argives under arms have suffered
years of agony all for her, for such a woman.
Beauty, terrible beauty!
A deathless goddess — so she strikes our eyes!
Homer (fl. 7th-8th C. BC) Greek author The Iliad [Ἰλιάς], Book 3, l. 156ff (3.156-158) (c. 750 BC) [tr. Fagles (1990), ll. 187-190]
Alt. trans.:
Surely there is no blame on Trojans and strong-greaved Achaians
if for long time they suffer hardship for a woman like this one.
Terrible is the likeness of her face to immortal goddesses.
[tr. Lattimore (1951)]
No wonder, such celestial charms
For nine long years have set the world in arms!
What winning graces! what majestic mien!
She moves a goddess, and she looks a queen.
[tr. Pope (1715-20)]
Trojans and Grecians wage, with fair excuse,
Long war for so much beauty. Oh, how like
In feature to the Goddesses above!
Pernicious loveliness!
[tr. Cowper (1791), ll. 181-83]
It is not a subject for indignation, that Trojans and well-greaved Greeks endure hardships for a long time on account of such a woman. In countenance she is wondrous like unto the immortal goddesses ....
[tr. Buckley (1860)]
Small blame is it that Trojans and well-greaved Achaians should for such a woman long time suffer hardships; marvellously like is she to the immortal goddesses to look upon.
[tr. Leaf/Lang/Myers (1891)]
And, "'tis no marvel," one to other said,
"The valiant Trojans and the well-greav'd Greeks
For beauty such as this should long endure
The toils of war; for goddess-like she seems."
[tr. Derby (1864)]
Small wonder that Trojans and Achaeans should endure so much and so long, for the sake of a woman so marvellously and divinely lovely.
[tr. Butler (1898)]
It is no wonder
that Trojans and Akhaians under arms
should for so long have borne the pains of war
for one like this. Unearthliness. A goddess
the woman is to look at.
[tr. Fitzgerald (1974), l. 186ff]
There is indeed no blame on the Trojans and well-greaved Achaians,
over a woman like this so long a time suffering sorrows;
dreadfully like the immortal goddesses is she to look on.
[tr. Merrill (2007)]
Beauty, like truth and goodness, is a quality that may in one sense be predicated of all great art, but the deliberate attempt to beautify can, in itself, only weaken the creative energy. Beauty in art is like happiness in morals: it may accompany the act, but it cannot be the goal of the act, just as one cannot “pursue happiness,” but only something else that may give happiness.
Northrop Frye (1912-1991) Canadian literary critic and literary theorist Anatomy of Criticism, “Mythical Phase: Symbol as Archetype” (1957)
(Source)
Ugly programs are like ugly suspension bridges: they’re much more liable to collapse than pretty ones, because the way humans (especially engineer-humans) perceive beauty is intimately related to our ability to process and understand complexity.
Eric S. Raymond (b. 1957) American software developer, writer [a.k.a. ESR] The Cathedral & the Bazaar (1999)
Many complain of their looks, but none of their brains.
(Other Authors and Sources)
Italian proverb
Also noted as a Jewish or Yiddish proverb.
This is also often cited to Sally Koslow, Little Pink Slips, ch. 5 (2007); it appears there as ""Many complain of their looks, few of their brains," but is described as an unoriginal needlepoint on a pillow cover.
The first time ever I saw your face
I thought the sun rose in your eyes,
And the moon and the stars were the gifts you gave
To the dark and empty skies.
Ewan MacColl (1915-1989) Scottish folk singer, songwriter, labour activist, playwright [stage name of James Henry (Jimmy) Miller]
“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” (1957)
(Source)
Anne "Ninon" de l'Enclos (1620-1705) French author, courtesan, patron of the arts [Ninon de Lenclos, Ninon de Lanclos] The Memoirs of Ninon de L’Enclos, Vol. 1, “Life and Character” (1761)
(Source)
Ralph Waldo Emerson used almost precisely the same phrase in "Beauty," The Conduct of Life (1860).
The world is not respectable; it is mortal, tormented, confused, deluded forever; but it is shot through with beauty, with love, with glints of courage and laughter; and in these, the spirit blooms timidly, and struggles to be a light amid the thorns.
George Santayana (1863-1952) Spanish-American poet and philosopher [Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruíz de Santayana y Borrás] Platonism and the Spiritual Life (1927)
(Source)
To give people pleasure in the things they must perforce use, that is one great office of decoration; to give people pleasure in the things they must perforce make, that is the other use of it.
William Morris (1834-1896) British textile designer, writer, socialist activist
“The Decorative Arts: Their Relation to Modern Life and Progress,” Lecture (4 Dec 1877)
(Source)
Morris' first public lecture. Later published as "The Lesser Arts" in Hopes and Fears for Art (1882).
The universe could have been created ugly, and would have functioned. And yet there is beauty everywhere in creation. Beauty gives us an ache, to be worthy of that creation.
Mary Oliver (1935-2019) American poet
Comments at Wellesley College (20 Oct 2010)
(Source)
The last phrase is frequently paraphrased, "We need beauty because it makes us ache to be worthy of it."
The English Bible, a book which, if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power.
Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859) English writer and politician
“John Dryden,” Edinburgh Review (Jan 1828)
(Source)
Review of John Dryden, The Political Works of John Dryden (1826)
That the beauty of life is a thing of no moment, I suppose few people would venture to assert, and yet most civilized people act as if it were of none, and in so doing are wronging themselves and those that are to come after them; for that beauty, which is what is meant by art, using the word in its widest sense, is, I contend, no mere accident to human life, which people can take or leave as they choose, but a positive necessity of life, if we are to live as nature meant us to; that is, unless we are content to be less than men.
William Morris (1834-1896) British textile designer, writer, socialist activist
“The Beauty of Life,” lecture, Birmingham Society of Arts and School of Design (19 Feb 1880)
(Source)
Our golden rule: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.
William Morris (1834-1896) British textile designer, writer, socialist activist
“The Beauty of Life,” lecture, Birmingham Society of Arts and School of Design (19 Feb 1880)
(Source)
Makeup: Western equivalent of the veil. A daily reminder that something is wrong with women’s normal looks. A public apology.
Marie Shear (1940-2017) American writer and feminist activist
“Media Watch: Celebrating Women’s Words,” New Directions for Women (May/Jun 1986)
(Source)
Life is not only full of sound and fury. It also has butterflies, flowers, art.
Claude Simon (1913-2005) French novelist, critic, Nobel Laureate (Literature)
“The Art of Fiction,” #128, Interview with A. Eyle, The Paris Review (Spring 1992)
(Source)
If God didn’t want women to be looked at, he would have made ’em ugly — that’s reasonable, isn’t it? God isn’t a cheat; He set up the game Himself — He wouldn’t rig it so that the marks can’t win, like a flat joint wheel in a town with the fix on. He wouldn’t send anybody to Hell for losing in a crooked game.
Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) American writer Stranger in a Strange Land, ch. 27 [Patty] (1961)
(Source)
It must be added, lest we be reproached for leaving out details important to our readers’ understanding of subsequent events, that the lady seemed to have all the attributes of beauty, grace and charm that make a young man’s heart beat faster and cause his eyes to widen, lest they miss the least nuance of expression or gesture. It need hardly be added that Khaavren was just of the type to appreciate all of these qualities; that is to say, he was young and a man, and had, moreover, a vivid imagination which allowed his thoughts to penetrate, if not the mind of the lady opposite him, at least the folds and angles of her gown.
Steven Brust (b. 1955) American writer, systems programmer The Phoenix Guards (1991)
Character contributes to beauty. It fortifies a woman as her youth fades. A mode of conduct, a standard of courage, discipline, fortitude and integrity can do a great deal to make a woman beautiful.
Jacqueline Bisset (b. 1944) English actress.
In “Actress with 3 Countries,” Los Angeles Times (16 May 1974)
I know the colour rose, and it is lovely,
But not when it ripens in a tumour;
And healing greens, leaves and grass, so springlike,
In Limbs that fester are not springlike.
Daniel "Dannie" Abse (1923-2014) Welsh poet
“Pathology of Colours” (1968)
Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) American writer
Caption, Vogue (1916)
Quoted and attributed in Alexander Woollcott, While Rome Burns (1934). Modeled after Shakespeare. The full caption, from a page of women's underwear: "From these foundations of the autumn wardrobe, one may learn that brevity is the soul of lingerie, as the Petticoat said to the Chemise."
“If they were ugly, Peter, would you care half so much?” asked Nightingale. “There are some hideous things out there that can talk and reason and I wonder if you would be quite so quick to rush to their defense.”
“Maybe not,” I said. “But that just makes me shallow, it doesn’t make me wrong.”
Ben Aaronovitch (b. 1964) British author Moon Over Soho (2011)
I’ve never understood all this fuss people make about the dawn. I’ve seen a few and they’re never as good as the photographs, which have the additional advantage of being things you can look at when you’re in the right frame of mind, which is usually around lunchtime.
Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English writer Last Chance to See, ch. 4 (1990)
To tell a woman who is forty, “You look like sixteen,” is baloney. The blarney way of saying it is: “Tell me how old you are, I should like to know at what age women are most beautiful.”
Fulton Sheen (1895-1979) American Catholic archbishop, preacher, televangelist Life Is Worth Living, s.5 (1957)
Find joy with the wife you married in your youth, fair as a hind, graceful as a fawn. Let hers be the company you keep, hers the breasts that ever fill you with delight, hers the love that ever holds you captive.
The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Proverbs 5:18-19 [JB (1966)]
(Source)
Alternate translations:
Rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
[KJV (1611)]
So be happy with your wife and find your joy with the woman you married -- pretty and graceful as a deer. Let her charms keep you happy; let her surround you with her love.
[GNT (1976)]
Find joy with the wife you married in your youth, fair as a hind, graceful as a fawn: hers the breasts that ever fill you with delight, hers the love that ever holds you captive.
[NJB (1985)]
Rejoice in the wife of your youth. She is a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts intoxicate you all the time; always be drunk on her love.
[CEB (2011)]
Rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe.
May her breasts satisfy you at all times; may you be intoxicated always by her love.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]
Find joy in the wife of your youth --
A loving doe, a graceful mountain goat.
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be infatuated with love of her always.
[RJPS (2023 ed.)]
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet
(Attributed)
Sometimes attributed to Pensées (1838), but not found in any translation.
Somewhat more often attributed to Benjamin Disraeli. He did use the phrase (e.g., "Grace indeed is beauty in action" in Conington, Book 6, ch. 2 (1844)), but does not seem to have originated it. For example, in a speech in the House of Commons (1851-02-11), he is recorded as:
A great writer has said that "grace is beauty in action." I say that Justice is truth in action.
Unless Disraeli was quoting himself as a "great writer," it seems likely he had someone else in mind.
Virtue and learning, like gold, have their intrinsic value: but if they are not polished, they certainly lose a great deal of their lustre; and even polished brass will pass upon more people than rough gold.
Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #118 (6 Mar 1747)
(Source)
BENDIS: We’re gonna die.
MAL: We’re not gonna die. We can’t die, Bendis. You know why? Because we are so — very — pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die.
Joss Whedon (b. 1964) American screenwriter, author, producer [Joseph Hill Whedon] Firefly, 1×01 “Serenity” (pilot) (20 Dec 2002)
For if he wou’d try effectually to acquire the real Science or TASTE of Life; he wou’d certainly discover, “That a RIGHT MIND, and GENEROUS AFFECTION, had more Beauty and Charm, than all other Symmetrys in the World besides.”
Anthony Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713) English politician and philosopher Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, Vol. 3, “Miscellany III,” ch. 3 (1711)
(Source)
She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow’d to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) English poet
“She Walks in Beauty,” st. 1 (1814), Hebrew Melodies (1815)
(Source)
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
1 Peter 3:3-4 [NIV (2011 ed.)]
(Source)
Alternate translations:
Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
[KJV (1611)]
Do not dress up for show: doing up your hair, wearing gold bracelets and fine clothes; all this should be inside, in a person’s heart, imperishable: the ornament of a sweet and gentle disposition -- this is what is precious in the sight of God.
[JB (1966)]
You should not use outward aids to make yourselves beautiful, such as the way you fix your hair, or the jewelry you put on, or the dresses you wear. Instead, your beauty should consist of your true inner self, the ageless beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of the greatest value in God's sight.
[GNT (1976)]
Your adornment should be not an exterior one, consisting of braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothing, but the interior disposition of the heart, consisting in the imperishable quality of a gentle and peaceful spirit, so precious in the sight of God.
[NJB (1985)]
Don’t try to make yourselves beautiful on the outside, with stylish hair or by wearing gold jewelry or fine clothes. Instead, make yourselves beautiful on the inside, in your hearts, with the enduring quality of a gentle, peaceful spirit. This type of beauty is very precious in God’s eyes.
[CEB (2011)]
Do not adorn yourselves outwardly by braiding your hair, and by wearing gold ornaments or fine clothing; rather, let your adornment be the inner self with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God’s sight.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]
First Shakespeare sonnets seem meaningless; first Bach fugues, a bore; first differential equations, sheer torture. But training changes the nature of our spiritual experiences. In due course, contact with an obscurely beautiful poem, an elaborate piece of counterpoint or of mathematical reasoning, causes us to feel direct intuitions of beauty and significance. It is the same in the moral world.
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) English novelist, essayist and critic Ends and Means (1937)
A pretty girl is like a melody
That haunts you night and day,
Just like the strain of a haunting refrain,
She’ll start upon a marathon
And run around your brain.
Irving Berlin (1888-1989) American songwriter [b. Isidore Beilin]
“A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody” (1919)
There is hardly any bodily blemish which a winning behaviour will not conceal, or make tolerable; and there is no external grace which ill-nature or affectation will not deform.
James Burgh (1714-1775) British politician and writer The Dignity of Human Nature, Sec. 5 “Miscellaneous Thoughts on Prudence in Conversation” (1754)
(Source)
Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful. Beauty is God’s hand-writing — a way-side sacrament; welcome it in every fair face, every fair sky, every fair flower, and thank for it Him, the fountain of all loveliness, and drink it in, simply and earnestly, with all your eyes; it is a charmed draught, a cup of blessing.
Charles Kingsley (1819-1875) English clergyman, historian, essayist, novelist (pseud. "Parson Lot")
“The National Gallery,” Politics for the People #1 (6 May 1848) [as “Parson Lot”]
Often given as "Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God’s handwriting."
Human beings can be beautiful. If they are not beautiful it is entirely their own fault. It is what they do to themselves that makes them ugly. The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes. If you foolishly ignore beauty, you will soon find yourself without it. Your life will be impoverished. But if you invest in beauty, it will remain with you all the days of your life.
Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) American architect, interior designer, writer, educator [b. Frank Lincoln Wright]
(Attributed)
There are few things that we so unwillingly give up, even in advanced age, as the supposition that we still have the power of ingratiating ourselves with the fair sex.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment to George Stevens
In "Johnsoniana," The European Magazine and London Review (Jan 1785). From an anecdote by George Stevens.
I have never seen anyone who loves virtue as much as he loves beautiful women.
[吾未見好德、如好色者也。]
Confucius (c. 551- c. 479 BC) Chinese philosopher, sage, politician [孔夫子 (Kǒng Fūzǐ, K'ung Fu-tzu, K'ung Fu Tse), 孔子 (Kǒngzǐ, Chungni), 孔丘 (Kǒng Qiū, K'ung Ch'iu)] The Analects [論語, 论语, Lúnyǔ], Book 9, verse 18 (9.18) and Book 15, verse 13 (15.13) (6th C. BC – AD 3rd C.) [tr. Huang (1997)]
(Source)
The two analects are the same in Chinese, although the second is prefaced by an expression of despair or exasperation (e.g., "It's hopeless!" or "I should just give up!"). In both instances, it is attributed by Sima Qian to Confucius' irritation while riding behind Duke Ling of Wei and his beautiful wife, Nan Tzu.
Legge and other early translators number these as 9.17 and 15.12, as shown below.
I have not seen one who loves virtue as he loves beauty.
[tr. Legge (1861), 9.17, 15.12]
I have not yet met with the man who loves Virtue as he loves Beauty
[tr. Jennings (1895), 9.17, 15.12]
I do not now see a man who can love moral worth in man as he loves beauty in woman. (9.17)
I do not now see a man who loves moral worth as he loves beauty in women. (15.12)
[tr. Ku Hung-Ming (1898)]
I have never yet seen a man whose love of virtue equaled his love of woman. (9.17)
I have never yet seen as man as fond of virtue as of beauty. (15.12)
[tr. Soothill (1910)]
I do not see love of looking into the mind and acting on what one sees there to match love of someone having beauty. (9.17)
I have not seen anyone who loves acting from inwit as they love a beautiful person. (15.12)
[tr. Pound (1933)]
I have never seen anyone whose desire to build up his moral power was as strong as sexual desire. (9.17)
In vain have I looked for one whose desire to build up his moral power was as strong as sexual desire. (15.12)
[tr. Waley (1938)]
I have never yet seen people attracted by virtuous scholars as they are by beautiful women. (Reference)
I haven't yet seen people who love virtue as they love beauty. (Reference)
[tr. Lin Yutang (1938)]
I have yet to meet a man as fond of high moral conduct as he is of outward appearances.
[tr. Ware (1950), 9.18, 15.13]
I have yet to meet the man who is as fond of virtue as he is of beauty in women.
[tr. Lau (1979), 9.18, 15.13]
I have never come across anyone who admires virtue as much as he admires sexual attraction.
[tr. Dawson (1993), 9.18, 15.13]
I have never seen anyone who loved virtue as much as sex. (9.18)
I have never seen a man who loved virtue as much as sex. (15.13)
[tr. Leys (1997)]
I have not seen one person who likes the virtuousness as likes the beauteousness. (9.18)
I cannot see the person who likes the virtuousness as likes the beauteousness. (15.13)
[tr. Cai/Yu (1998)]
I have yet to meet the person who is fonder of excellence (de) than of physical beauty.
[tr. Ames/Rosemont (1998), 9.18, 15.13]
I have never seen anyone who loves virtue the way he loves beauty.
[tr. Brooks/Brooks (1998), 9.18, 15.13]
I've never seen anyone for whom loving Integrity is like loving a beautiful woman.
[tr. Hinton (1998), 9.18, 15.13]
I have yet to meet a man who loves Virtue as much as he loves female beauty.
[tr. Slingerland (2003), 9.18, 15.13]
I have never seen the person who loved virtue the way he loved physical beauty.
[tr. Watson (2007), 9.18, 15.13]
I have never met a person who loved virtue as much as he loved physical beauty.
[tr. Chin (2014), 9.18]
I have never seen anyone who loves virtues as much as sexy women.
[tr. Li (2020), 9.18, 15.13]
I had first noticed her in the lobby of the Churchill, because she rated a glance as a matter of principle — the principle that a man owes it to his eyes to let them rest on attractive objects when there are any around.
Rex Stout (1886-1975) American writer
“Frame-Up for Murder,” ch. 1 [Archie] (1958)
There are some people who state that the exterior, sex, or physique of another person is indifferent to them, that they care only for the communion of mind with mind; but these people need not detain us. There are some statements that no one ever thinks of believing, however often they are made.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) English journalist and writer The Defendant, “A Defence of Ugly Things” (1901)
For the renown which riches or beauty confer is fleeting and frail; mental excellence is a splendid and lasting possession.
[Nam divitiarum et formae gloria fluxa atque fragilis est, virtus clara aeternaque habetur.]
Sallust (c. 86-35 BC) Roman historian and politician [Gaius Sallustius Crispus] Bellum Catilinae [The War of Catiline; The Conspiracy of Catiline], ch. 1, sent. 4 [tr. Rolfe (1931)]
(Source)
"For what are all the advantages of wealth, and all the graces of form and feature? mere precarious gifts, that soon fade and moulder away. It is virtue, and virtue only, that ennobles the human character, and lives in the memory of the after-times." [tr. Murphy (1807)]
"For the splendour derived from riches and beauty is short-lived and frail, virtue alone confers immortality." [tr. Rose (1831)
"For the glory of riches and beauty is fickle and frail; virtue is accounted bright and everlasting." [Source (1841)]
"For the glory of wealth and beauty is fleeting and perishable; that of intellectual power is illustrious and immortal." [tr. Watson (1867)]
"The glory of wealth and beauty is fleeting and frail, but personal merit is held in eternal honour." [tr. Pollard (1882)]
"The glory of riches and appearance is fleeting and fragile, but to have prowess is something distinguished and everlasting. [tr. Woodman (2007)]
"For the fame of riches and beauty is fickle and frail, while virtue is eternally excellent."
If God created the world, He created sex, and one way to construe our inexhaustible sexual interest is as a form of the praise of creation. Says the Song of Solomon, “The joints of thy thighs are like jewels; the work of the hands of a cunning workman.”
John Updike (1932-2009) American writer
“Even the Bible is Soft on Sex,” New York Times Book Review (20 Jun 1993)
But more Euryalus finds grace:
So well the tears beseem his face,
And worth appears with brighter shine
When lodged within a lovely shrine.
[Tutatur favor Euryalum, lacrimaeque decorae,
gratior et pulchro veniens in corpore virtus.]
Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil] The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 5, l. 343ff (5.343-344) (29-19 BC) [tr. Conington (1866)]
(Source)
Why the spectators at the Funeral Games race support Eurayalus as winner, despite the shenanigans at the finish line: because he's pretty.
Beauty, sweat tears defend Euryalus:
Vertue with beauty joyn'd more gratefull is.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]
But favor for Euryalus appears;
His blooming beauty, with his tender tears,
Had brib'd the judges for the promis'd prize.
[tr. Dryden (1697)]
The favor [of the spectators] befriends Euryalus, and his graceful tears, and merit that appears more lovely in a comely person.
[tr. Davidson/Buckley (1854)]
But favor smiles
For Euryalus, and his becoming tears;
And worth seems worthier in a lovely form.
[tr. Cranch (1872), l. 407ff]
Even virtue is fairer when it appears in a beautiful person.
[ed. Ward/Hoyt (1882)]
Euryalus is strong in favour, and beauty in tears, and the merit that gains grace from so fair a form.
[tr. Mackail (1885)]
But safe goodwill and goodly tears Euryalus do bear,
And lovelier seemeth valour set in body wrought so fair.
[tr. Morris (1900)]
Tears aid Euryalus, and favour pleads
His worth, more winsome in a form so sweet
[tr. Taylor (1907)]
But general favor smiles
upon Euryalus, whose beauteous tears
commend him much, and nobler seems the worth
of valor clothed in youthful shape so fair.
[tr. Williams (1910)]
Goodwill befriends Euryalus, and his seemly tears and worth, that shows more winsome in a fair form.
[tr. Fairclough (1916)]
But all the popular favor
Sides with Euryalus, who is young, and weeping,
And better-looking.
[tr. Humphries (1951)]
Popular feeling sided with Euryalus -- there was also
His manly distress, and that worth which is made the more winning by good looks.
[tr. Day-Lewis (1952)]
But popularity
protects Euryalus, together with
his graceful tears and worth that please the more
since they appear in such a handsome body.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1971), l. 451ff]
The crowd's support and his own quiet tears
Were in Euryalus's favor: prowess
Ever more winning for a handsome form.
[tr. Fitzgerald (1981)]
On the side of Euryalus were the favour in which he was held, his beauty as he stood there weeping and the manly spirit growing in that lovely body.
[tr. West (1990)]
His popularity protects Euryalus, and fitting tears,
and ability is more pleasing in a beautiful body.
[tr. Kline (2002)]
But Euryalus has the people on his side,
plus modest tears and his own gallant ways,
favored all the more for his handsome build.
[tr. Fagles (2006), l. 379ff]
Euryalus' popularity and graceful tears protected him and his purity, so lovely in a lovely boy.
[tr. Bartsch (2021)]
COSMETICS: There is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness.
Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington (1789-1849) Irish novelist [Lady Blessington, b. Margaret Power] Desultory Thoughts and Reflections (1839)
(Source)
There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien] The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 3: The Return of the King, Book 6, ch. 2 “The Land of Shadow” (1954)
(Source)
‘You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!’
She lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illumined her alone and left all else dark. She stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful. Then she let her hand fall, and the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken: a slender elf-woman, clad in simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad.
‘I pass the test,’ she said. ‘I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.’
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien] The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, ch. 7 “The Mirror of Galadriel” [Galadriel] (1954)
(Source)
HENRY: A speaker is but a prater, a rhyme is but a ballad, a good leg will fall, a straight back will stoop, a black beard will turn white, a curled pate will grow bald, a fair face will wither, a full eye will wax hollow, but a good heart, Kate, is the sun and the moon, or rather the sun and not the moon, for it shines bright and never changes but keeps his course truly. If thou would have such a one, take me.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet Henry V, Act 5, sc. 2, l. 164ff (5.2.164) (1599)
(Source)
Quoted by Walter Mondale as a eulogy for Hubert Humphrey.
Indifference, to me, is the epitome of evil.
The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.
The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference.
The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference.
And the opposite of life is not death, but indifference,
indifference between life and death.
Elie Wiesel (1928-2016) Romanian-American novelist, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate.
“One Must Not Forget,” interview by Alvin P. Sanoff, US News & World Report (27 Oct 1986)
And then, do you know, I like to think that love is eternal; that if you really love the woman, for her sake, you will love her no matter what she may do; that if she really loves you, for your sake, the same; that love does not look at alterations, through the wrinkles of time, through the mask of years — if you really love her you will always see the face you loved and won. And I like to think of it. If a man loves a woman she does not ever grow old to him. And the woman who really loves a man does not see that he is growing older. He is not decrepit to her. He is not tremulous. He is not old. He is not bowed. She always sees the same gallant fellow that won her hand and heart. I like to think of it in that way, and as Shakespeare says: “Let Time reach with his sickle as far as ever he can; although he can reach ruddy cheeks and ripe lips, and flashing eyes, he can not quite reach love.” I like to think of it. We will go down the hill of life together, and enter the shadow one with the other, and as we go down we may hear the ripple of the laughter of our grandchildren, and the birds, and spring, and youth, and love will sing once more upon the leafless branches of the tree of age. I love to think of it in that way — absolute equals, happy, happy, and free, all our own.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
“Lecture on Skulls”
(Source)
Good-nature is more agreeable in conversation than wit, and gives a certain air to the countenance which is more amiable than beauty. It shows virtue in the fairest light, takes off in some measure from the deformity of vice, and makes even folly and impertinence supportable.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman The Spectator, No. 169 (1711-09-13)
(Source)
‘A good heart will help you to a bonny face, my lad,’ I continued, ‘if you were a regular black; and a bad one will turn the bonniest into something worse than ugly.’
Emily Brontë (1818-1848) British novelist, poet [pseud. Ellis Bell] Wuthering Heights, ch. 7 [Nelly to Heathcliff] (1847)
The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there’s little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.
Carl Sagan (1934-1996) American scientist and writer
“In the Valley of the Shadow,” Parade (10 Mar 1996)
An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it is also more nourishing.
H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken] A Little Book in C Major, ch. 2, § 3 (1916)
(Source)
Variants:
IDEALIST: one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup. A Book of Burlesques, "The Jazz Webster" (1924)
An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup. Chrestomathy, ch. 30 "Sententiae" (1949)
Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
Thomas Gray (1716-1771) English poet
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,” st. 14, l. 53ff (1751)
(Source)
KEATING: We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.
Tom Schulman (b. 1951) American screenwriter, director Dead Poet’s Society (1989)
(Source)
