--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I define nothing. Not beauty, not…" description: "\"I define nothing. Not beauty, not patriotism. I take each thing as it is, without prior rules about what it should be.\" — Bob Dylan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ca/bob-dylan-168_beauty_i-define-nothing-not-beauty-not-patrioti_2742832.jpg" --- # I define nothing. Not beauty, not patriotism. I take each… ![“I define nothing. Not beauty, not patriotism. I take each thing as it is, without prior rules about what it should be.” quote by Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ca/bob-dylan-168_beauty_i-define-nothing-not-beauty-not-patrioti_2742832.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ca/bob-dylan-168_beauty_i-define-nothing-not-beauty-not-patrioti_2742832.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7ca/bob-dylan-168_beauty_i-define-nothing-not-beauty-not-patrioti_2742832.jpg) > “I define nothing. Not beauty, not patriotism. I take each thing as it is, without prior rules about what it should be.” [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker rejects definitions, embracing each thing without preconceived rules, emphasizing openness. **In simple terms:** Live without preset judgments. Key Takeaway Stay open, avoid rigid labels. Themes freedom nonconformity open‑mindedness individualism philosophy Mood thoughtful reflective Type musical philosophical When to use this quote - creative work - personal growth - social interaction Key Concepts Existential freedom anti‑dogma personal authenticity Questions to Reflect On - How do you define yourself? - When is a rule useful? A Different Perspective Complete openness can lead to indecision. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Beauty Patriotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty-patriotism-3040029/) [Define](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/define/) [Define Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/define-beauty-556151/) [Patriotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotism/) [Patriotism Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotism-thing-2595494/) ## Related quotes > [“Patriotism is a thing difficult to put into words. It is neither precisely an emotion nor an opinion, nor a mandate, but a state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/patriotism-is-a-thing-difficult-to-put-into-words-it-is-neither/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [If military movies were automatically successful we'd make nothing but military movies. But seriously, patriotism is one thing that all Americans have in common.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-lee-jones/if-military-movies-were-automatically-successful-we-d-make-nothing/) [Tommy Lee Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-lee-jones/) > [There is salvation - happiness and virtue - in beauty. I would define beauty in this context as a kind of richness, complexity, mystery,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/there-is-salvation-happiness-and-virtue-in-beauty-i-would-define/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [When Coleridge tried to define beauty, he returned always to one deep thought; beauty, he said, is unity in variety! Science is nothing else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-coleridge-tried-to-define-beauty-he-returned-always-to-one-deep/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You are either as beautiful or as ugly as you believe you are. You define your beauty. That's not a power anyone can have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-are-either-as-beautiful-or-as-ugly-as-you-believe-you-are-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Many attempts have been made by writers on art and poetry to define beauty in the abstract, to express it in the most general…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-pater/many-attempts-have-been-made-by-writers-on-art-and-poetry-to-define/) [Walter Pater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-pater/) > [The biggest thing for women to keep in mind is you can't ever let someone define beauty for you. Look in the mirror and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennie-runk/the-biggest-thing-for-women-to-keep-in-mind-is-you-can-t-ever-let/) [Jennie Runk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennie-runk/) > [Words couldn't define your beauty! :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annonymous/words-couldn-t-define-your-beauty/) [Annonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annonymous/) > [Don't Say She's Ugly,, if You can't Define Beauty !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-say-she-s-ugly-if-you-can-t-define-beauty/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“So what if you have stretch marks. So what if you have cellulite. So what if you don’t have a big butt. So what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-lahart/so-what-if-you-have-stretch-marks-so-what-if-you-have-cellulite-so/) [Stephanie Lahart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-lahart/) > [Right now the way I define beauty is individuality and wisdom, which I think creates a certain inner confidence. And not confidence in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-keys/right-now-the-way-i-define-beauty-is-individuality-and-wisdom-which-i/) [Alicia Keys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-keys/) > [Beauty, what is beauty? Looks? Paradise ? Something attractive ? Or is it just our own perception and preferance that makes us define beauty.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-c/beauty-what-is-beauty-looks-paradise-something-attractive-or-is-it/) [Gabrielle C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-c/) > [You define beauty for yourself, society doesnt define your beauty. Your spirit and your faith defines your beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-gaga/you-define-beauty-for-yourself-society-doesnt-define-your-beauty-your/) [Lady Gaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-gaga/) > [You define beauty for yourself, society doesn’t define your beauty. Your spirit and your faith defines your beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-gaga/you-define-beauty-for-yourself-society-doesn-t-define-your-beauty/) [Lady Gaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-gaga/) > [How dare the world define beauty. God defined beauty when he made you! You are beautiful, you are a true beauty just the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-hamilton/how-dare-the-world-define-beauty-god-defined-beauty-when-he-made-you/) [Rachel Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-hamilton/) ## More by Bob Dylan > [The hollow horn plays wasted words, proves to warn that he not busy being born is busy dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-hollow-horn-plays-wasted-words-proves-to-warn-that-he-not-busy/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Don't forget to support your public library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/don-t-forget-to-support-your-public-library/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [You don't count the dead, when god's on your side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/you-don-t-count-the-dead-when-god-s-on-your-side/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [She makes love just like a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/she-makes-love-just-like-a-woman/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Silvio, I gotta go, find out something only dead men know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/silvio-i-gotta-go-find-out-something-only-dead-men-know/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I don't really have a retirement plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-don-t-really-have-a-retirement-plan/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Just a reminder, if you tell anyone about what happened with Jonah last night, I'll destroy all of my writing and never play music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/just-a-reminder-if-you-tell-anyone-about-what-happened-with-jonah/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Little red wagon, little red bike, I ain’t no monkey but I know what I like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/little-red-wagon-little-red-bike-i-ain-t-no-monkey-but-i-know-what-i/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Twenty years of schooling and they put you on the day shift - look out out kid, they keep it all hid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/twenty-years-of-schooling-and-they-put-you-on-the-day-shift-look-out/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [The drunken politician leaps upon the street where mothers weep, and the saviors who are fast asleep, they wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-drunken-politician-leaps-upon-the-street-where-mothers-weep-and/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/your-eyes-are-like-two-jewels-in-the-sky/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I gotta friend who spends his life, stabbing my picture with a bowie knife. Dreams of strangling me with a scarf, when my name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-gotta-friend-who-spends-his-life-stabbing-my-picture-with-a-bowie/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [She speaks with a stutter and she and she walks with a hop. I don't know why I love her, but I just can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/she-speaks-with-a-stutter-and-she-and-she-walks-with-a-hop-i-don-t/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [The man in the coon skin cap in the pig pen wants eleven dollar bills, you've only got ten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-man-in-the-coon-skin-cap-in-the-pig-pen-wants-eleven-dollar-bills/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Don't put my faith in nobody, not even a scientist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/don-t-put-my-faith-in-nobody-not-even-a-scientist/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) [Explore all 1,018 Bob Dylan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "I define nothing. Not beauty, not patriotism. 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