“From fair forms to fair practices, and from fair practices to fair notions, until from fair notions he arrives at the notion of absolute beauty.”
Plato
True BeautyPhilosophy
Beauty Quotes
200 FAMOUS QUOTES · BEAUTY
Beauty Quotes
Read 200 of the best beauty quotes on inner beauty, true beauty and the beauty of the world from Plato, Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, Kahlil Gibran and more.
“Beauty absolute, separate, simple, and everlasting.”
Plato
Eternal BeautyPhilosophy
“For beauty depends on magnitude and order.”
Aristotle
OrderProportion
“Personal beauty is a greater recommendation than any letter of introduction.”
Aristotle
AppearanceFirst Impressions
“Never did eye see the sun unless it had first become sunlike, and never can the soul have vision of the First Beauty unless itself be beautiful.”
Plotinus
Inner BeautySoul
“Withdraw into yourself and look. And if you do not find yourself beautiful yet, act as does the creator of a statue that is to be made beautiful.”
Plotinus
Self-ImprovementInner Beauty
“Beautiful things are those which please when seen.”
Thomas Aquinas
DefinitionPerception
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
Margaret Wolfe Hungerford
PerceptionPerspective
“Beauty in things exists in the mind which contemplates them.”
David Hume
PerceptionMind
“The beautiful is that which pleases universally without a concept.”
Immanuel Kant
PhilosophyDefinition
“The beautiful is a manifestation of secret laws of nature, which, but for this appearance, had been for ever concealed from us.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
NatureMystery
“Beauty will save the world.”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
HopePower Of Beauty
“It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.”
Leo Tolstoy
AppearancesWisdom
“All in the world know the beauty of the beautiful, and in doing this they have the idea of what ugliness is.”
Lao Tzu
ContrastPerspective
“There is no excellent beauty, that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.”
Francis Bacon
UniquenessImperfection
“That is the best part of beauty, which a picture cannot express.”
Francis Bacon
True BeautyGrace
“The principal part of beauty is in decent motion.”
Francis Bacon
GraceElegance
“Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set.”
Francis Bacon
VirtueSimplicity
“Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye, not utter'd by base sale of chapmen's tongues.”
William Shakespeare
PerceptionValue
“Beauty itself doth of itself persuade the eyes of men without an orator.”
William Shakespeare
Power Of BeautyAttraction
“O, how much more doth beauty beauteous seem by that sweet ornament which truth doth give!”
William Shakespeare
TruthInner Beauty
“The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem for that sweet odour which doth in it live.”
William Shakespeare
Inner BeautyFlowers
“Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good; a shining gloss that fadeth suddenly.”
William Shakespeare
ImpermanenceAppearances
“O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!”
William Shakespeare
RomanceAdmiration
“Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold.”
William Shakespeare
AttractionWitty
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About Beauty Quotes
What is beauty? Is it in a face, a flower, a sunset, a kind act or a quiet spirit? For thousands of years, philosophers, poets and artists have tried to answer that question, and most agree that true beauty goes far deeper than appearance.
This collection brings together 200 of the best beauty quotes from great thinkers and writers, including Plato, Aristotle, William Shakespeare, Francis Bacon, Oscar Wilde, Kahlil Gibran and Emily Dickinson. From inner beauty and self-worth to the beauty of nature and art, these quotes about beauty will help you see it everywhere.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about Beauty quotes.
What is the most famous quote about beauty?
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," first printed in this exact form by Margaret Wolfe Hungerford in 1878, is the most famous beauty quote of all. Dostoevsky's "Beauty will save the world" and Keats's "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever" are also widely loved.
What are quotes about inner beauty?
Kahlil Gibran is often quoted as saying beauty is not in the face but a light in the heart, and 1 Samuel 16:7 reminds us that God looks on the heart rather than outward appearance. Shakespeare also wrote that truth makes beauty seem even more beautiful.
What did Plato say about beauty?
In the Symposium, Plato described a ladder of beauty that begins with beautiful bodies and rises to beautiful actions, ideas and finally to beauty itself, which he called absolute, simple and everlasting. For Plato, true beauty was spiritual rather than physical.
What are short beauty quotes for Instagram captions?
Popular short choices include "Beauty will save the world," "Handsome is that handsome does," "Beauty crowds me till I die," and "Beauty is the pilot of the young soul." They pair well with nature, portrait and self-love posts.
What does "handsome is that handsome does" mean?
This old saying, used by Oliver Goldsmith in The Vicar of Wakefield, means that good character and kind actions matter more than good looks. A person's true beauty is shown by how they behave.
Is beauty only about appearance?
Most great thinkers say no. From Plotinus to Gibran, they describe beauty as something that shines from a good soul, kind actions and a peaceful spirit, and as something we learn to see in nature, art and people when our own hearts are open.