Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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Beauty
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“I know of nothing useful in life except what is beautiful or creates beauty.”
Henry Adams (1838–1918) said by 1918 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I like silent pictures and I always have. They are often so much more beautiful than sound pictures are. Perhaps they had to be. At any rate I wanted to restore some of this beauty. I thought of it, I remember in this way: one of techniques of modern art is simplification, and that I must therefore simplify this film.”
Akira Kurosawa (1910–1998) first seen 1998 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the style of the film Rashomon, as quoted in The Films of Akira Kurosawa (1998) by Donald Richie, 3rd edition, p. 79
“To have beauty is to have only that, but to have goodness is to be beautiful too.”
Sappho (651–570 BC) said by 570 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fr. ? (tr. Suzy Q. Groden, 1966)
“One has to seek Beauty and Truth, Sir! As I always say to my pupils, you have to work to the finish. There's only one kind of painting. It is the painting that presents the eye with perfection, the kind of beautiful and impeccable enamel you find in Veronese and Titian.”
William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905) first seen 1895 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Bouguereau (1895); Attributed in: Jefferson C. Harrison (1986) French paintings from the Chrysler Museum. Chrysler Museum, North Carolina Museum of Art, Birmingham Museum of Art (Birmingham, Ala.). p.45.
“Is Beauty beautiful, or is it only our eyes that make it so?”
William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863) said by 1863 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Many beautiful women have been made happy by their own beauty, but no intelligent woman has ever been made happy by her own intelligence.”
Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I regard it as my duty, in the spirit of my parents, to hold my hand over my German people, its rising generation, to cultivate in them the sense of the beautiful, to develop in them a taste for art, but only on a definite path, only within definite limits, which lie in the feeling for beauty and harmony, that exists in the hearts of men.”
Wilhelm II, German Emperor (1859–1941) said by 1941 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What is that land of hill and dale That is so beautiful, The land aglow with summer days, Land with the northern lights ablaze, Whose beauty all the seasons share, What is that land so fair? There many thousand lakes are bright With twinkling stars at night There many kanteles resound And all around make hillsides sing And on the golden heath firs ring: That is the Finnish land.”
Aleksis Kivi (1834–1872) said by 1872 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Women who are either indisputably beautiful, or indisputably ugly, are best flattered upon the score of their understandings; but those who are in a state of mediocrity are best flattered upon their beauty, or at least their graces; for every woman who is not absolutely ugly thinks herself handsome.”
Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) first seen 1748 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 5 September 1748
“Moreover, given the unpleasant option of having to associate with either the self-satisfied beautiful or the self-pitying plain, he'd choose the former every time because beauty could sometimes transcend smugness whereas self-pity just made ugliness all the more unattractive.”
Tom Robbins (1932–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Almost all men, and those that seem to be very miserable, love life, because they cannot bear to lose sight of such a beautiful and lovely world. The ideas, that every moment whilst we live have a beauty that we take not distinct notice of, brings a pleasure that, when we come to the trial, we had rather live in much pain and misery than lose.”
Jonathan Edwards (theologian) first seen 1725 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Beauty of the World" (c.1725), from the notebook The Images of Divine Things, The Shadows of Divine Things, The Language and Lessons of Nature (published 1948).
“So much has been said and sung of beautiful young girls, why doesn't somebody wake up to the beauty of old women?”
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[impersonating her mother] Now, Maria, if a boy doesn't like you, I would just like you to know that he is intimidated by your beauty, because you are the most beautiful girl in the whole world and if you would stop doing impersonations of me I think other people would see that...”
Maria Bamford (born 1970) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She was beautiful, with a beauty so severe and so solitary that at first it was startling. "Ah! If only there were two of me," she thought, "one doing the talking and one listening, one living and one watching, how I would love myself. I'd envy no one.”
Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The superior gratification derived from the use and contemplation of costly and supposedly beautiful products is, commonly, in great measure a gratification of our sense of costliness masquerading under the name of beauty.”
Thorstein Veblen (1857–1929) said by 1929 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I admit, that the commonplace man can never, by copying, produce a masterpiece; he notes every detail but he does not really see - the artist penetrates below the surface into the very heart of nature; for him everything is beautiful because beauty in art consists of character.”
Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) said by 1917 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Beauty, like truth, is a thing which is relative to the time in which one lives and to the individual capable of understanding it. The expression of the beautiful bears a precise relation to the power of perception acquired by the artist.”
Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) said by 1877 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Beauty is beautiful because it is doomed to perish!”
Philip José Farmer (1918–2009) said by 2009 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am constantly observing things and believe that I am coming closer to beauty. In the last few days I have discovered form and have been thinking much about it. Until now I've had no real feeling for the antique. I could find it very beautiful by itself. But I could never find any thread leading from it to modern art. Now I've found it, and that's what I believe is called progress.”
Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876–1907) first seen 1899 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: excerpt of her Journal, 1899; as quoted in Voicing our visions, – Writings by women artists; ed. Mara R. Witzling, Universe New York, 1991, p. 198
“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) first seen 1922 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Autobiography of Margot Asquith (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1963) p. 249. (1922).
“I feel my most beautiful when I am truly myself. Meaning, when I accept exactly where I am in time and space, and I’m not judging myself in any way, and I feel that I have the peace that comes with loving yourself and all of your flaws, I see so much now how beauty really does, as cliché as it sounds, emanate from within.”
Gwyneth Paltrow (born 1972) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Response to People magazine named Paltrow the World’s Most Beautiful Woman for 2013 (April 24, 2013)
“Asking for efficiency and adaptability in the same program is like asking for a beautiful and modest wife. Although beauty and modesty have been known to occur in the same woman, we'll probably have to settle for one or the other. At least that's better than neither.”
Gerald Weinberg (1933–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My own mystic bent leads me to believe that musical variations, collage, reiteration and process, or evolution, are beautiful. Life is worth living and beauty is worth making.”
Beth Anderson (born 1950) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Beth Anderson at allmusic.com, 2013
“The Taj is incomparable, designed like a palace and finished like a jewel—a snow-white emanation starting from a bed of cypresses and backed by a turquoise sky, pure, perfect and unutterably lovely. One feels the same sensation as in gazing at a beautiful woman, one who has that mixture of loveliness and sadness which is essential to the highest beauty.”
George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (1859–1925) first seen 1888 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to St John Brodrick (1 January 1888), quoted in The Earl of Ronaldshay, The Life of Lord Curzon: Being the Authorized Biography of George Nathaniel, Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, K.G. (1928), p. 64
“Sisley, I hear, is seriously ill. He is a great and beautiful artist, in my opinion he is a master equal to the greatest. I have seen works of his of rare amplitude and beauty, among others an 'Inundation' [in the Camondo collection], which is a masterpiece.”
Camille Pissarro (1830–1903) first seen 1899 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In a letter to his son Lucien, 22th January 1899.
“I think classical music is a great, beautiful art as long as people recognize it. But first we need to calm down and listen to it with heart. In this technologically advanced time, too many things are drawing peoples' attention. Sometimes we need to slow down, look back and feel the beauty of art and life.”
“Who says? Who says you're not perfect? Who says you're not worth it? Who says you're the only one that's hurtin'? Trust me, that's the price of beauty Who says you're not pretty? Who says you're not beautiful? Who says?”
Selena Gomez (born 1992) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Something is beautiful if it is honest. If you do an engaged piece of work, which is sincere, the concept of beauty meets the concept of truth. So no illusive harmony. I try to reach people who strive for truth, for identity. Although these conceptions are incredibly warn out, one must try to find the way back to these simple conceptions.”
Jörg Immendorff (1945–2007) first seen 1983 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Heidrun Reshöft & Joachim Pente (Transl.) "Art : Interview; Jörg Immendorff" at BOMB Magazine, (7) Fall 1983.
“Perhaps we'll be able to do beautiful things, since I have a stellar, insane desire to assassinate beauty.”
Francis Picabia (1879–1953) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote in Picabia's letter to Tristan Tzara, Summer 1919; as cited in TaTa Dada: The Real Life and Celestial Adventures of Tristan Tzara, Marius Hentea, MIT Press, 12 Sep 2014, p. 151
“What becomes of a man who acquires a beautiful woman, with her 'beauty' his sole target? He sabotages himself. He has gained no friend, no ally, no mutual trust: She knows quite well why she has been chosen. He has succeeded in buying a mutually suspicious set of insecurities. He does gain something: the esteem of other men who find such an acquisition impressive.”
Naomi Wolf (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They are patient with the gravity of their intent. Of their means of survival they've made these elegant webs, their beauty a by-product of their purpose. Which causes me to wonder, my own purpose on so many days as humble as the spider's, what is beautiful that I make? What is elegant? What feeds the world? (p77)”
Louise Erdrich (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I wanted a storybook life, to be Rapunzel and Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, all the beautiful ladies that wonderful men came along on their big white horses and dragged away. Which is not remarkable, a lot of kids grow up that way. But I decided it was gonna happen.”
Raquel Welch (1940–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For generations in this country, beauty was traditionally represented by three very distinct ideals in virtually all media: blond hair, blue eyes and fair skin...My cover shattered that notion forever….Women of color could boldly say to the world, ‘Hey, look at me! I’m here and I have value and I am beautiful.'”
Beverly Johnson (born 1952) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On becoming the first Black model on the cover of Vogue magazine in “Exclusive: Vogue Superstar Beverly Johnson Shares Her Thoughts on Race, Bill Cosby and Golf ” in Parade (2015 Sep 29)
“Covergirl celebrates powerful, beautiful, and strong women of different races and ethnicities. It’s inspiring. I’m thrilled to be part of the diversity and expansion of beauty.”
Zendaya (born 1996) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Zendaya Just Announced That She's the New Face of Covergirl". Teen Vogue. (January 21, 2016).
“Beautiful people make even those of us who proudly consider ourselves unmoved by another's appearance dumb with admiration and fear and delight, and struck by the profound, enervating awareness of how inadequate we are, how nothing, not intelligence or education or money, can usurp or overpower or deny beauty.”
Hanya Yanagihara (born 1974) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don’t think I’m beautiful. People probably think I’m cute because I have dimples and am friendly and always smiling. But beauty is different.”
Liu Wen (model) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: China’s First Supermodel on Changing Standards of Beauty" in The Cut (1 March 2016)
“The girls who were unanimously considered beautiful often rested on their beauty alone. I felt I had to do things, to be intelligent and develop a personality in order to be seen as attractive. By the time I realized maybe I wasn't plain and might even possibly be pretty, I had already trained myself to be a little more interesting and informed.”
Diane von Fürstenberg (born 1946) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Diane von Furstenberg Quotes", ThoughtCo (March 24, 2017)
“There can be beauty in things that are not necessarily deemed as beautiful.”
Zainab Balogun (born 1989) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Beautiful. She had been born with an appreciation for beauty. Mortals who imagined that they shared that same appreciation knew nothing. In them, the taste had to be learned, cultivated, forced into being. If it had been a natural part of their souls, they never would have destroyed so much loveliness with their repetitive stupidities.”
Esther Friesner (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So people who are still 19, 20 years old, go to school, study hard, because what you will be tomorrow is preparing today. If you look for average you get average I don't think you were chosen to be the perfect girl and you get average or you are so surprised that you are told that you are beautiful that you forget that the inner beauty is better than the outer one.”
Jeanne d'Arc Gakuba first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Advises to Rwandan contestants for Miss Rwanda crown, Hose (April 29, 2022)
“I would ask if I could take a photo after talking to them, and most would change into a beautiful dress. They wanted me to carry beauty and hope with me.”
Dorothée Munyaneza (born 1982) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dorothée Munyaneza said, there were also wonderful moments (The New York Times, Sept. 19, 2017)
“having a nice shape was not what made me popular, whether you’re sexy or not you must have content. You can’t be a star by being beautiful or fair or voluptuous. Sexiness and beauty can only make people like you but it won’t keep you there for long.”
Destiny Etiko (born 1989) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: https://pmnewsnigeria.com/2020/06/20/actress-destiny-etiko-speaks-on-her-sexiness-relationship-with-pete-edochie/?amp=1
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, That’s number one. What someone thinks as beautiful might not be to someone else.”
Kim Basinger (born 1953) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: on beauty in 2018.
“Makeup is cool. I mean, you can turn up and feel really good and treat yourself, but it shouldn't be something you hang on to to validate your beauty or something you have to do to make you feel beautiful.”
Letitia Wright (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Each morning when I step outside my door I walk into the Garden of Eden. "O Great Spirit, thank you for this beautiful day." There has not been one day in the past 20 years that I have not started my day this way and really meant it. When you are truly connected to Mother Earth and Spirit, you see as much beauty in a cold, gray, sleety, December morning as a warm, sunny day in June.”
Linda Hogan (writer) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Let's change the narrative, change mindsets and challenge the stereotypical ideas of what beauty is ... May we change lives together and create a new narrative for women across our beautiful continent.”
Bokang Montjane (born 1986) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Former Miss SA Bokang Montjane-Tshabalala to direct Mrs Universe Africa, IOL,14 May 2021 by Thobile Mazibuko
“The beauty of Naples grows day by day, week by week, as it discovers its secrets. Until one comes to understand that this is truly the most beautiful gulf on earth. (p. 430)”
Guido Piovene (1907–1974) said by 1974 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’ve always found great beauty in the way illustrations can convey a lot of information in a succinct, elegant, and beautiful way.”
Francisca Oladipo (born 1978) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I love two flowers in particular, the hibiscus and the poppy, beautiful blooms that die very quickly. For me they reflect the beauty and transience of life.”
Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy (1952–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Angela Cobbinah, ‘I laughed so much the day I painted the Queen’, Camden New Journal, 18 October 2022.
“Your beauty is your pain but you have to make good use of it and look at the advantages of being beautiful. That I am pretty is not by mistake; God made me this way.”
Ebube Nwagbo (born 1983) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mutiat Lawore, Ebube Nwagbo: People’ll think I’m possessed if I don’t have a man, New Telegraph, 26 February, 2022.