--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Genuine beauty is always quite alarming." description: "\"“Genuine beauty is always quite alarming.”\" — Donna Tartt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/donna-tartt-391_authenticity_genuine-beauty-is-always-quite-alarming_1101559.jpg" --- # Genuine beauty is always quite alarming. ![“Genuine beauty is always quite alarming.” quote by Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/donna-tartt-391_authenticity_genuine-beauty-is-always-quite-alarming_1101559.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/donna-tartt-391_authenticity_genuine-beauty-is-always-quite-alarming_1101559.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/donna-tartt-391_authenticity_genuine-beauty-is-always-quite-alarming_1101559.jpg) > ““Genuine beauty is always quite alarming.”” [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) ## 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 can be unsettling because it reveals deeper truths that disturb comfort. **In simple terms:** Beauty can be unsettling. Key Takeaway Accept discomfort as part of appreciation. Themes aesthetic truth discomfort Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - museum visits - personal reflection - creative writing Key Concepts philosophical psychology art criticism Questions to Reflect On - Why does beauty sometimes alarm you? - How does discomfort deepen perception? A Different Perspective Some may view beauty as purely pleasant. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authenticity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authenticity/) [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) ## Related quotes > [Beauty is rarely soft or consolatory. Quite the contrary. Genuine beauty is always quite alarming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/beauty-is-rarely-soft-or-consolatory-quite-the-contrary-genuine/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [So much alarmed that she is quite alarming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/so-much-alarmed-that-she-is-quite-alarming/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [All knives and forks were working away at a rate that was quite alarming; very few words were spoken; and everybody seemed to eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/all-knives-and-forks-were-working-away-at-a-rate-that-was-quite/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Heaven forbid if beauty were to have substance. Genuine beauty is always meaningless, without virtue”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/heaven-forbid-if-beauty-were-to-have-substance-genuine-beauty-is/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [Beauty can be quite boring, especially if you're talking about beauty that doesn't last. And what lasts is exactly the thing that maybe wasn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carine-roitfeld/beauty-can-be-quite-boring-especially-if-you-re-talking-about-beauty/) [Carine Roitfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carine-roitfeld/) > [“I'm intrigued. If not by beauty, how then does one spot the garden-variety nobleman?" "Easily," she said. "One need only look for the promise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-callihan/i-m-intrigued-if-not-by-beauty-how-then-does-one-spot-the-garden/) [Kristen Callihan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-callihan/) > [...a genuine work of art, can never be false, nor can it be discredited through the lapse of time, for it does not present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-genuine-work-of-art-can-never-be-false-nor-can-it-be-discredited/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I feel that a genuine, affectionate smile is very important in our day-to-day lives. How one creates that smile largely depends on one's own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/i-feel-that-a-genuine-affectionate-smile-is-very-important-in-our-day/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [If we would know whether our faith is genuine, we do well to ask ourselves how we are living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/if-we-would-know-whether-our-faith-is-genuine-we-do-well-to-ask/) [J. C. 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Not the fake bullshit personality I see tons ofpeople with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/so-glad-i-m-with-genuine-people-who-care-about-me-for-me-not-the-fake/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There's things you can say about me, but here's what you can't say about me: that I'm not being genuine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-remini/there-s-things-you-can-say-about-me-but-here-s-what-you-can-t-say/) [Leah Remini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-remini/) > [Every genuine expression of love grows out of a consistent and total surrender to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/every-genuine-expression-of-love-grows-out-of-a-consistent-and-total/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) ## More by Donna Tartt > [I hope we're all ready to leave the phenomenal world, and enter into the sublime?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/i-hope-we-re-all-ready-to-leave-the-phenomenal-world-and-enter-into/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [And I add my own love to the history of people who have loved beautiful things, and looked out for them, and pulled them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-i-add-my-own-love-to-the-history-of-people-who-have-loved/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [And the flavor of Pippa's kiss--bittersweet and strange--stayed with me all the way back uptown, swaying and sleepy as I sailed home on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-the-flavor-of-pippa-s-kiss-bittersweet-and-strange-stayed-with-me/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“The world won't come to me...so I must go to it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/the-world-won-t-come-to-me-so-i-must-go-to-it/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [There's an expectation these days that novels - like any other consumer product - should be made on a production line, with one dropping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/there-s-an-expectation-these-days-that-novels-like-any-other-consumer/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“A month or two before, I would have been appalled at the idea of any murder at all. But that Sunday afternoon, as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/a-month-or-two-before-i-would-have-been-appalled-at-the-idea-of-any/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [Well, I think storytellers have always found murder a fascinating device.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/well-i-think-storytellers-have-always-found-murder-a-fascinating/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [Always remember, the person we’re really working for is the person who’s restoring the piece a hundred years from now. 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We can’t make ourselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/a-great-sorrow-and-one-that-i-am-only-beginning-to-understand-we-don/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“Upon meeting Julian Morrow, one has the impression that he is a man of extraordinary sympathy and warmth. But what you call his 'Asiatic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/upon-meeting-julian-morrow-one-has-the-impression-that-he-is-a-man-of/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) [Explore all 590 Donna Tartt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) ## More Alarming quotes > [I've had an alarming amount of concussions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-reynolds/i-ve-had-an-alarming-amount-of-concussions/) [Ryan Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-reynolds/) > [There's a diversion between economic reality - integration, global village, everybody depending on everybody else - and cultural reality, which is people feeling invaded,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duncan-green/there-s-a-diversion-between-economic-reality-integration-global/) [Duncan Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duncan-green/) > [It would have been very alarming - morally, and in other ways too - if an attack of that nature, the 11 September attacks,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-would-have-been-very-alarming-morally-and-in-other-ways-too-if-an/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [We are being wiped off the face of this earth At an extremely alarming rate And even more alarming is the fact That we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/we-are-being-wiped-off-the-face-of-this-earth-at-an-extremely/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [In all the new states of the Union, land monopolization has gone on at an alarming rate, but in none of them so fast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-george/in-all-the-new-states-of-the-union-land-monopolization-has-gone-on-at/) [Henry George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-george/) > [In terms of security for wildlife and our society, it's an incredibly alarming situation, and we need to address that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronika-varekova/in-terms-of-security-for-wildlife-and-our-society-it-s-an-incredibly/) [Veronika Varekova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronika-varekova/) > [The committee's finding that China stole sensitive technology from U.S. weapons research labs is alarming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bass/the-committee-s-finding-that-china-stole-sensitive-technology-from-u/) [Charles Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bass/) > [The violence in New Orleans is erupting and it's continuing to grow at an alarming rate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyrann-mathieu/the-violence-in-new-orleans-is-erupting-and-it-s-continuing-to-grow/) [Tyrann Mathieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyrann-mathieu/) > [With so much evidence of depleting natural resources, toxic waste, climate change, irreparable harm to our food chain and rapidly increasing instances of natural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yehuda-berg/with-so-much-evidence-of-depleting-natural-resources-toxic-waste/) [Yehuda Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yehuda-berg/) > [We are losing privacy at an alarming rate - we have none left.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcafee/we-are-losing-privacy-at-an-alarming-rate-we-have-none-left/) [John McAfee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcafee/) > [It's kind of alarming for me to realize that, when I'm writing stories about times I remember, it's already historical fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/it-s-kind-of-alarming-for-me-to-realize-that-when-i-m-writing-stories/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Once food gets into our fridges, larders and kitchens, ensuring that it gets used up before going off seems like an obvious thing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tristram-stuart/once-food-gets-into-our-fridges-larders-and-kitchens-ensuring-that-it/) [Tristram Stuart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tristram-stuart/) > [Through my newspaper comic strip, public speaking, and filmmaking, I try to tell as many people as possible, of all ages and from all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-toomey/through-my-newspaper-comic-strip-public-speaking-and-filmmaking-i-try/) [Jim Toomey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-toomey/) > [I'd be totally exhausted by mid-afternoon, and I could barely climb the stairs at home. 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Putnam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-putnam/) Browse all 68 Alarming quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Genuine beauty is always quite alarming.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Donna Tartt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/genuine-beauty-is-always-quite-alarming/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Alarming" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/genuine-beauty-is-always-quite-alarming/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/donna-tartt-391_authenticity_genuine-beauty-is-always-quite-alarming_1101559.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/donna-tartt-391_authenticity_genuine-beauty-is-always-quite-alarming_1101559.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/donna-tartt-391_authenticity_genuine-beauty-is-always-quite-alarming_1101559.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Genuine beauty is always quite alarming.” — Donna Tartt", "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": "Donna Tartt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Genuine beauty is always quite alarming.”", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/genuine-beauty-is-always-quite-alarming/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/genuine-beauty-is-always-quite-alarming/#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 } } ] } ```