--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The cardinal virtue of all beauty is…" description: "\"The cardinal virtue of all beauty is restraint.\" — Elsie de Wolfe" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fc/elsie-de-wolfe-17463_beauty_the-cardinal-virtue-of-all-beauty-is-res_2906918.png" --- # The cardinal virtue of all beauty is restraint. ![“The cardinal virtue of all beauty is restraint.” quote by Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fc/elsie-de-wolfe-17463_beauty_the-cardinal-virtue-of-all-beauty-is-res_2906918.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fc/elsie-de-wolfe-17463_beauty_the-cardinal-virtue-of-all-beauty-is-res_2906918.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fc/elsie-de-wolfe-17463_beauty_the-cardinal-virtue-of-all-beauty-is-res_2906918.png) > “The cardinal virtue of all beauty is restraint.” [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) ## 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 requires restraint, suggesting moderation is essential to aesthetic appeal. **In simple terms:** Beauty comes from self‑control. Key Takeaway Practice restraint for lasting elegance. Themes aesthetics self‑control moderation beauty Mood reflective elegant Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - interior design - fashion - visual arts Key Concepts design principles personal discipline Questions to Reflect On - When is restraint counter‑productive? - How do you know when to hold back? A Different Perspective Excess can also be expressive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Design](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/design/) [Interior design](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interior-design/) [Restraint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/restraint/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [Virtue is the beauty of the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/virtue-is-the-beauty-of-the-soul/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) > [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/) > [Virtue is beauty, but the beauteous evil. Are empty trunks o'erflourished by the devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/virtue-is-beauty-but-the-beauteous-evil-are-empty-trunks-o/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Beauty is the virtue of the body as virtue is the beauty of the soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/beauty-is-the-virtue-of-the-body-as-virtue-is-the-beauty-of-the-soul/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“There is no endowment in man or woman, that is not tallied in you. There is no virtue, no beauty in man or woman,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandi-leigh-hall/there-is-no-endowment-in-man-or-woman-that-is-not-tallied-in-you/) Brandi Leigh Hall > [It is one of the most culpable oversights of nature that virtue and beauty so often come in separate packages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/it-is-one-of-the-most-culpable-oversights-of-nature-that-virtue-and/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [“In nature there's no blemish but the mind; None can be called deformed but the unkind: Virtue is beauty, but the beauteous evil Are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/in-nature-there-s-no-blemish-but-the-mind-none-can-be-called-deformed-2/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Simplicity, suitability and proportion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/simplicity-suitability-and-proportion/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [We cannot do better than to accept the standards of other times, and to adapt them to our uses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/we-cannot-do-better-than-to-accept-the-standards-of-other-times-and/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [To conform within rational limits to a given style is no more servile than to pay one's taxes or to write according to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/to-conform-within-rational-limits-to-a-given-style-is-no-more-servile/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [Good dressing is largely a question of detail and accessories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/good-dressing-is-largely-a-question-of-detail-and-accessories/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [I am going in now for interior decoration. By that I mean supplying objets d'art and giving advice regarding the decoration of their houses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/i-am-going-in-now-for-interior-decoration-by-that-i-mean-supplying/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [You can't take it with you. There are no pockets in a shroud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/you-can-t-take-it-with-you-there-are-no-pockets-in-a-shroud/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [My business is to preach to you the beauty of suitability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/my-business-is-to-preach-to-you-the-beauty-of-suitability/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [I believe in plenty of optimism and white paint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/i-believe-in-plenty-of-optimism-and-white-paint/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) ## More by Elsie de Wolfe > [You will express yourself in your house whether you want to or not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/you-will-express-yourself-in-your-house-whether-you-want-to-or-not/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [I was not ugly. I might never be anything for men to lose their heads about, but I need never again be ugly. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/i-was-not-ugly-i-might-never-be-anything-for-men-to-lose-their-heads/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [don't make each room a different color in a small apartment or you'll make yourself nervous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/don-t-make-each-room-a-different-color-in-a-small-apartment-or-you-ll/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [My business is to preach to you the beauty of suitability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/my-business-is-to-preach-to-you-the-beauty-of-suitability/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [There never has been a house so bad that it couldn't be made over into something worthwhile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/there-never-has-been-a-house-so-bad-that-it-couldn-t-be-made-over/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [I was born with the courage to live. Only those are unwise who have never dared to be fools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/i-was-born-with-the-courage-to-live-only-those-are-unwise-who-have/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [You can't take it with you. There are no pockets in a shroud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/you-can-t-take-it-with-you-there-are-no-pockets-in-a-shroud/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [ \[At first sight of the Acropolis:\] It's beige! My color! ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/at-first-sight-of-the-acropolis-it-s-beige-my-color/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [I am going to make everything around me beautiful - that will be my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/i-am-going-to-make-everything-around-me-beautiful-that-will-be-my-life/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [What is the goal? A house that is like the life that goes with it, a house that gives us beauty as we understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/what-is-the-goal-a-house-that-is-like-the-life-that-goes-with-it-a/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [I am going in now for interior decoration. By that I mean supplying objets d'art and giving advice regarding the decoration of their houses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/i-am-going-in-now-for-interior-decoration-by-that-i-mean-supplying/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [It is not chic to be too chic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/it-is-not-chic-to-be-too-chic/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [When one begins to think of oneself as growing old, one is already old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/when-one-begins-to-think-of-oneself-as-growing-old-one-is-already-old/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [Good dressing is largely a question of detail and accessories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/good-dressing-is-largely-a-question-of-detail-and-accessories/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) > [It is the personality of the mistress that the home expresses. Men are forever guests in our homes, no matter how much happiness they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/it-is-the-personality-of-the-mistress-that-the-home-expresses-men-are/) [Elsie de Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) [Explore all 37 Elsie de Wolfe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/) ## 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": "The cardinal virtue of all beauty is restraint.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elsie de Wolfe" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/the-cardinal-virtue-of-all-beauty-is-restraint/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beauty" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/the-cardinal-virtue-of-all-beauty-is-restraint/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fc/elsie-de-wolfe-17463_beauty_the-cardinal-virtue-of-all-beauty-is-res_2906918.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fc/elsie-de-wolfe-17463_beauty_the-cardinal-virtue-of-all-beauty-is-res_2906918.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fc/elsie-de-wolfe-17463_beauty_the-cardinal-virtue-of-all-beauty-is-res_2906918.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The cardinal virtue of all beauty is restraint.” — Elsie de Wolfe", "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": "Elsie de Wolfe", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elsie-de-wolfe/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The cardinal virtue of all beauty...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/the-cardinal-virtue-of-all-beauty-is-restraint/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elsie-de-wolfe/the-cardinal-virtue-of-all-beauty-is-restraint/#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 } } ] } ```