--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is foolish to wish for beauty…" description: "\"“It is foolish to wish for beauty. Sensible people never either desire it for themselves or care about it in others. If the mind be but well cultivated..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70a/anne-bronte-1444_beauty_it-is-foolish-to-wish-for-beauty-sensibl_2452425.jpg" --- # It is foolish to wish for beauty. Sensible people never… ![“It is foolish to wish for beauty. Sensible people never either desire it for themselves or care about it in others. If the mind be but well cultivated, and the heart well disposed, no one ever cares for the exterior. So said the teachers of our childhood; and so say we to the children of the…” quote by Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70a/anne-bronte-1444_beauty_it-is-foolish-to-wish-for-beauty-sensibl_2452425.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70a/anne-bronte-1444_beauty_it-is-foolish-to-wish-for-beauty-sensibl_2452425.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70a/anne-bronte-1444_beauty_it-is-foolish-to-wish-for-beauty-sensibl_2452425.jpg) > ““It is foolish to wish for beauty. Sensible people never either desire it for themselves or care about it in others. If the mind be but well cultivated, and the heart well disposed, no one ever cares for the exterior. So said the teachers of our childhood; and so say we to the children of the present day. All very judicious and proper, no doubt; but are such assertions supported by actual experience?”” [Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True beauty is irrelevant when the mind and heart are cultivated; external appearance matters little. **In simple terms:** Inner virtue outweighs outward looks. Key Takeaway Cultivate inner character. Themes beauty inner virtue cultivation Mood contemplative critical Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - parenting - education - personal development - social interactions Key Concepts selflessness philosophy human nature Questions to Reflect On - How does inner growth affect outward perception? - Can we truly ignore beauty? A Different Perspective Neglecting appearance can lead to social disadvantages. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [Present day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-day/) ## Related quotes > [It is foolish to wish for beauty. Sensible people never either desire it for themselves or care about it in others. If the mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/it-is-foolish-to-wish-for-beauty-sensible-people-never-either-desire/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [“It is foolish to wish for beauty.  Sensible people never either desire it for themselves or care about it in others.  If the mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/it-is-foolish-to-wish-for-beauty-sensible-people-never-either-desire-3/) [Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [Beauty is but the sensible image of the Infinite. Like truth and justice it lives within us; like virtue and the moral law it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bancroft/beauty-is-but-the-sensible-image-of-the-infinite-like-truth-and/) [George Bancroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bancroft/) > [Beauty itself is but the sensible image of the Infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/beauty-itself-is-but-the-sensible-image-of-the-infinite/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [It is God himself who can be discovered in the beauty of sensible things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henry-newman/it-is-god-himself-who-can-be-discovered-in-the-beauty-of-sensible/) [John Henry Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henry-newman/) > [“I wish for once that she could see the her that I can see; beauty that both steals my breath and gives it back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirk-diedrich/i-wish-for-once-that-she-could-see-the-her-that-i-can-see-beauty-that/) [Kirk Diedrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirk-diedrich/) > [He might wish and wish and never get it - the beauty and the loving in the world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galsworthy/he-might-wish-and-wish-and-never-get-it-the-beauty-and-the-loving-in/) [John Galsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galsworthy/) > [...I don't just wish you rain- I wish you the beauty of storms...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-just-wish-you-rain-i-wish-you-the-beauty-of-storms/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I wish beauty was a face it could have been you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paperboi/i-wish-beauty-was-a-face-it-could-have-been-you/) Paperboi > [... we will hope that future historians will explain the morbid symptoms of present-day society as the childhood ailments of an aspiring humanity, due…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/we-will-hope-that-future-historians-will-explain-the-morbid-symptoms/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Because people's desire to be comfortable supersedes their desire for self knowledge and well being, they avoid any form of discomfort. This is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-stewart/because-people-s-desire-to-be-comfortable-supersedes-their-desire-for/) Ben Stewart > [ They \[the people under you\] may desire help, but more than anything else they desire sympathy. Don't make the mistake of turning such men… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/they-the-people-under-you-may-desire-help-but-more-than-anything-else/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [If you pay attention to the movies they will tell you what people desire and fear. Movies are hardly ever about what they seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/if-you-pay-attention-to-the-movies-they-will-tell-you-what-people/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [In the end, therefore, money will be the one thing people will desire, which is moreover only representative, an abstraction. Nowadays a young man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/in-the-end-therefore-money-will-be-the-one-thing-people-will-desire/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [I see what I want of Love... I see horses making the meadow dance, fifty guitars sighing, and a swarm of bees suckling the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahmoud-darwish/i-see-what-i-want-of-love-i-see-horses-making-the-meadow-dance-fifty/) [Mahmoud Darwish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahmoud-darwish/) ## More by Anne Brontë > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [“There was a certain graceful ease and freedom about all he said and did, that gave a sense of repose and expansion to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-was-a-certain-graceful-ease-and-freedom-about-all-he-said-and/) [Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [“When a lady does consent to listen to an argument against her own opinions, she is always predetermined to withstand it - to listen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/when-a-lady-does-consent-to-listen-to-an-argument-against-her-own/) [Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [“There are, I suppose, some men as vain, as selfish, and as heartless as she is, and, perhaps, such women may be useful to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-i-suppose-some-men-as-vain-as-selfish-and-as-heartless-as/) [Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [ “By his \[God's\] help I will arise and address myself diligently to my appointed duty. If happiness in this world is not for me,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/by-his-god-s-help-i-will-arise-and-address-myself-diligently-to-my/) [Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [There is such a thing as looking through a person's eyes into the heart, and learning more of the height, and breadth, and depth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-is-such-a-thing-as-looking-through-a-person-s-eyes-into-the/) [Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [“Keep a guard over your eyes and ears as the inlets of your heart, and over your lips as the outlet, lest they betray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/keep-a-guard-over-your-eyes-and-ears-as-the-inlets-of-your-heart-and/) [Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [What the world stigmatizes as romantic is often more nearly allied to the truth than is commonly supposed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/what-the-world-stigmatizes-as-romantic-is-often-more-nearly-allied-to/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [I was not really angry: I felt for him all the time, and longed to be reconciled; but I determined he should make the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/i-was-not-really-angry-i-felt-for-him-all-the-time-and-longed-to-be/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [“Sullen silence was taken for rapt attention, and gave him greater room to talk; sharp answers were received as smart sallies of girlish vivacity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/sullen-silence-was-taken-for-rapt-attention-and-gave-him-greater-room/) [Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [“Revenge! No—what good would that do?—it would make him no better, and me no happier.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/revenge-no-what-good-would-that-do-it-would-make-him-no-better-and-me/) [Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [I’ll promise to think twice before I take any important step you seriously disapprove of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/i-ll-promise-to-think-twice-before-i-take-any-important-step-you/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [“It’s well to have such a comfortable assurance regarding the worth of those we love. I only wish you may not find your confidence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/it-s-well-to-have-such-a-comfortable-assurance-regarding-the-worth-of/) [Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [How odd it is that we so often weep for each other's distresses, when we shed not a tear for our own!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/how-odd-it-is-that-we-so-often-weep-for-each-other-s-distresses-when/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [Adoration isn't love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/adoration-isn-t-love/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) [Explore all 235 Anne Brontë quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) ## 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": "“It is foolish to wish for beauty. Sensible people never either desire it for themselves or care about it in others. If the mind be but well cultivated, and the heart well disposed, no one ever cares for the exterior. 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