--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Beauty is what sustains things, although…" description: "\"Beauty is what sustains things, although beauty is underwritten by pain and fear.\" — Andy Goldsworthy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9b/andy-goldsworthy-4466_beauty_beauty-is-what-sustains-things-although_2433614.png" --- # Beauty is what sustains things, although beauty is… ![“Beauty is what sustains things, although beauty is underwritten by pain and fear.” quote by Andy Goldsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9b/andy-goldsworthy-4466_beauty_beauty-is-what-sustains-things-although_2433614.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9b/andy-goldsworthy-4466_beauty_beauty-is-what-sustains-things-although_2433614.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9b/andy-goldsworthy-4466_beauty_beauty-is-what-sustains-things-although_2433614.png) > “Beauty is what sustains things, although beauty is underwritten by pain and fear.” [Andy Goldsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-goldsworthy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Beauty persists despite being rooted in pain and fear, implying that aesthetic value often masks suffering. **In simple terms:** Beauty endures, but pain underlies it. Key Takeaway Acknowledge hidden struggles behind outward beauty. Themes beauty pain fear resilience Mood thoughtful melancholic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - art criticism - mental health awareness - creative process - personal healing Key Concepts aesthetics human experience dualities Questions to Reflect On - What pains do you overlook in beautiful things? - How can you honor both beauty and its costs? A Different Perspective May neglect the positive aspects of beauty. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) ## Related quotes > [The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-books-or-the-music-in-which-we-thought-the-beauty-was-located/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are other things besides beauty with which to captivate the hearts of men. The Italians have a saying: "Fair is not fair, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ninon-de-l-enclos/there-are-other-things-besides-beauty-with-which-to-captivate-the/) [Ninon de L'Enclos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ninon-de-l-enclos/) > [I need to capture my sprite with trembling hands. Except I could crush her. Wonder how many small things of beauty - flowers, seashells,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-hopkins/i-need-to-capture-my-sprite-with-trembling-hands-except-i-could-crush/) [Ellen Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-hopkins/) > [No matter how bad things get, you can always see the beauty in them. The worse things get, the more you have to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/no-matter-how-bad-things-get-you-can-always-see-the-beauty-in-them/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [Filipinos don't wallow in what is miserable and ugly. They recycle the bad into things of beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imelda-marcos/filipinos-don-t-wallow-in-what-is-miserable-and-ugly-they-recycle-the/) [Imelda Marcos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/imelda-marcos/) > [“What I found in a city—when I finally saw a real one—was disquieting. Nothing matched. It was a weird assemblage of things, but there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-theroux/what-i-found-in-a-city-when-i-finally-saw-a-real-one-was-disquieting/) [Marcel Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-theroux/) > [God passes through the thicket of the world, and wherever His glance falls He turns all things to beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-the-cross/god-passes-through-the-thicket-of-the-world-and-wherever-his-glance/) [John of the Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-the-cross/) > [When tea becomes ritual, it takes its place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things. Where is beauty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/when-tea-becomes-ritual-it-takes-its-place-at-the-heart-of-our/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [All things of beauty are not theirs alone who hold the fee; but unto him no less who can enjoy, than unto them who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-godfrey-saxe/all-things-of-beauty-are-not-theirs-alone-who-hold-the-fee-but-unto/) [John Godfrey Saxe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-godfrey-saxe/) > [Fast cars like Porsches and Ferraris - they are things of beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-stewart/fast-cars-like-porsches-and-ferraris-they-are-things-of-beauty/) [Rod Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-stewart/) > [Sometimes awful things have their own beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/sometimes-awful-things-have-their-own-beauty/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [The true way to live is to enjoy every moment as it passes, and surely it is in the everyday things around us that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ingalls-wilder/the-true-way-to-live-is-to-enjoy-every-moment-as-it-passes-and-surely/) [Laura Ingalls Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ingalls-wilder/) > [I really like to be able to have variety and to try different things - that's the beauty of fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leighton-meester/i-really-like-to-be-able-to-have-variety-and-to-try-different-things/) [Leighton Meester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leighton-meester/) > [My idea of man's chief end was to enrich the world with things of beauty, and have a fairly good time myself while doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/my-idea-of-man-s-chief-end-was-to-enrich-the-world-with-things-of/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) > [There ought to be gardens for all months in the year, in which, severally, things of beauty may be then in season.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/there-ought-to-be-gardens-for-all-months-in-the-year-in-which/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) ## More by Andy Goldsworthy > [Even in winter an isolated patch of snow has a special quality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/even-in-winter-an-isolated-patch-of-snow-has-a-special-quality/) [Andy Goldsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-goldsworthy/) > [If I had to describe my work in one word, that word would be time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/if-i-had-to-describe-my-work-in-one-word-that-word-would-be-time/) [Andy Goldsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-goldsworthy/) > [Winter makes a bridge between one year and another and, in this case, one century and the next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/winter-makes-a-bridge-between-one-year-and-another-and-in-this-case/) [Andy Goldsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-goldsworthy/) > [Understanding the materials I work with... gives me a deeper understanding of my place. And it's helped me make sense of the changes that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/understanding-the-materials-i-work-with-gives-me-a-deeper/) [Andy Goldsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-goldsworthy/) > [I love the winter. Well, I love all the seasons, but the winter is possibly one of the most intense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/i-love-the-winter-well-i-love-all-the-seasons-but-the-winter-is/) [Andy Goldsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-goldsworthy/) > [Time gives growth, it gives continuity and it gives change. And in the case of some sculptures, time gives a patina to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/time-gives-growth-it-gives-continuity-and-it-gives-change-and-in-the/) [Andy Goldsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-goldsworthy/) > [Sometimes you need to stop doing something to really see it afresh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/sometimes-you-need-to-stop-doing-something-to-really-see-it-afresh/) [Andy Goldsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-goldsworthy/) > [I've laid down in dried up streambeds, leaving a shadow. And then, five minutes later, it's flash flooded, and where I once laid is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/i-ve-laid-down-in-dried-up-streambeds-leaving-a-shadow-and-then-five/) [Andy Goldsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-goldsworthy/) > [When I do the permanent projects or the big projects, when a work is finished, that's the beginning of its life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/when-i-do-the-permanent-projects-or-the-big-projects-when-a-work-is/) [Andy Goldsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-goldsworthy/) > [Nature, for me is raw and dangerous and difficult and beautiful and unnerving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/nature-for-me-is-raw-and-dangerous-and-difficult-and-beautiful-and/) [Andy Goldsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-goldsworthy/) > [Ephemeral work made outside, for and about a day, lies at the core of my art and its making must be kept private.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/ephemeral-work-made-outside-for-and-about-a-day-lies-at-the-core-of/) [Andy Goldsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-goldsworthy/) > [I have to understand the nature of change. And I cannot just work with stone or the more permanent materials. I need to work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/i-have-to-understand-the-nature-of-change-and-i-cannot-just-work-with/) [Andy Goldsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-goldsworthy/) > [Design implies a sense of mapping something out and then you follow the plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/design-implies-a-sense-of-mapping-something-out-and-then-you-follow/) [Andy Goldsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-goldsworthy/) > [The reason why the stone is red is its iron content, which is also why our blood is red.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/the-reason-why-the-stone-is-red-is-its-iron-content-which-is-also-why/) [Andy Goldsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-goldsworthy/) > [It's frightening and unnerving to watch a stone melt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/it-s-frightening-and-unnerving-to-watch-a-stone-melt/) [Andy Goldsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-goldsworthy/) [Explore all 110 Andy Goldsworthy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-goldsworthy/) ## More Beauty quotes > [We do not want nowadays temples of worship and outward rites and ceremonies. What we really want is an Asram. We want a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/we-do-not-want-nowadays-temples-of-worship-and-outward-rites-and/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [To fathom the power, to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain, to swing on the spiral of our divinity, and still be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tool/to-fathom-the-power-to-witness-the-beauty-to-bathe-in-the-fountain-to/) [Tool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tool/) > [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/) [Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/) > [“We've all met people who are beautiful on the outside, however, when they open their mouths to speak, they have nothing of substance to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/we-ve-all-met-people-who-are-beautiful-on-the-outside-however-when/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [To me, the beauty of a quilt or a dress lies within the stitches and the thought of the person who made them. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie/to-me-the-beauty-of-a-quilt-or-a-dress-lies-within-the-stitches-and/) [Natalie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie/) > [“do not misunderstand person by beauty You really do not know its real or Mask on dirty thoughts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-zaki-ansari/do-not-misunderstand-person-by-beauty-you-really-do-not-know-its-real/) [Mohammed Zaki Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-zaki-ansari/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The more perfect the sight is the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/the-more-perfect-the-sight-is-the-more-delightful-the-beautiful/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [Call her beautiful a million times and she won't believe you. Call her ugly once, and she will never forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tumblr/call-her-beautiful-a-million-times-and-she-won-t-believe-you-call-her/) Tumblr > [Time can but make her beauty over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/time-can-but-make-her-beauty-over-again/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/) [Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/) > [“What about you? What do you do?” I needed to ask questions, draw him out. I needed to find out all the information I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-avery-ellison/what-about-you-what-do-you-do-i-needed-to-ask-questions-draw-him-out/) [Kate Avery Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-avery-ellison/) [Browse all 24,662 Beauty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Beauty is what sustains things, although beauty is underwritten by pain and fear.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Andy Goldsworthy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/beauty-is-what-sustains-things-although-beauty-is-underwritten-by/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beauty" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/beauty-is-what-sustains-things-although-beauty-is-underwritten-by/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9b/andy-goldsworthy-4466_beauty_beauty-is-what-sustains-things-although_2433614.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9b/andy-goldsworthy-4466_beauty_beauty-is-what-sustains-things-although_2433614.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c9b/andy-goldsworthy-4466_beauty_beauty-is-what-sustains-things-although_2433614.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Beauty is what sustains things, although beauty is underwritten by pain and fear.” — Andy Goldsworthy", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Andy Goldsworthy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-goldsworthy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Beauty is what sustains things, although...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/beauty-is-what-sustains-things-although-beauty-is-underwritten-by/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-goldsworthy/beauty-is-what-sustains-things-although-beauty-is-underwritten-by/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```