--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The porcelain rose is not as pretty as…" description: "\"The porcelain rose is not as pretty as the one that decays.\" — Eric G. Wilson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/312/eric-g-wilson-40596_decay_the-porcelain-rose-is-not-as-pretty-as-t_2299754.png" --- # The porcelain rose is not as pretty as the one that decays. ![“The porcelain rose is not as pretty as the one that decays.” quote by Eric G. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/312/eric-g-wilson-40596_decay_the-porcelain-rose-is-not-as-pretty-as-t_2299754.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/312/eric-g-wilson-40596_decay_the-porcelain-rose-is-not-as-pretty-as-t_2299754.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/312/eric-g-wilson-40596_decay_the-porcelain-rose-is-not-as-pretty-as-t_2299754.png) > “The porcelain rose is not as pretty as the one that decays.” [Eric G. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-g-wilson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A fleeting, fragile beauty cannot match the depth of something that ages and fades, highlighting the value of imperfection. **In simple terms:** Decay can be more beautiful than perfection. Key Takeaway Appreciate the charm in imperfection. Themes beauty imperfection transience Mood melancholic contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - art criticism - personal reflection - creative writing Key Concepts aesthetics philosophy of decay Questions to Reflect On - What does decay teach us about value? - Can imperfection be more authentic? A Different Perspective Perfection may still hold its own appeal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Porcelain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/porcelain/) [Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rose/) ## Related quotes > [The heart communes best when it does not try to speak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-weis/the-heart-communes-best-when-it-does-not-try-to-speak/) [Margaret Weis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-weis/) > [I can see that the sadness has returned. And it's not a beautiful sadness- beautiful sadness is a myth. Sadness turns our features to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/i-can-see-that-the-sadness-has-returned-and-it-s-not-a-beautiful/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“Of all things broken and lost, porcelain troubles me most.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/czes-aw-mi-osz/of-all-things-broken-and-lost-porcelain-troubles-me-most/) [Czesław Miłosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/czes-aw-mi-osz/) > [As a bathtub lined with white porcelain, When the hot water gives out or goes tepid, So is the slow cooling of our chivalrous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/as-a-bathtub-lined-with-white-porcelain-when-the-hot-water-gives-out/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [Prom night can be a special night, if you let it be. I know you think it's for losers and something that popular kids…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-mirman/prom-night-can-be-a-special-night-if-you-let-it-be-i-know-you-think/) [Eugene Mirman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-mirman/) > [The Ripe FigNow that You live here in my chest,anywhere we sit is a mountaintop.And those other images,which have enchanted peoplelike porcelain dolls from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/the-ripe-fignow-that-you-live-here-in-my-chest-anywhere-we-sit-is-a/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“Like a porcelain facade, her outer shell was breaking away.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-a-kuehlke/like-a-porcelain-facade-her-outer-shell-was-breaking-away/) L.A. Kuehlke > [“So who is she? No wait, let me guess. Skin of the finest porcelain. Hair of the softest silk. A voice like birdsong, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alethea-kontis/so-who-is-she-no-wait-let-me-guess-skin-of-the-finest-porcelain-hair/) [Alethea Kontis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alethea-kontis/) > [Dead girl walking” the boys say in the halls. “Tell us your secrets” the girls whisper, one toilet to another. "I am that girl.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-halse-anderson/dead-girl-walking-the-boys-say-in-the-halls-tell-us-your-secrets-the/) [Laurie Halse Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-halse-anderson/) > [Restrooms at gas stations were an unpleasant and shocking surprise; I had never considered the serious drawbacks of such lazily-cleaned rooms. I was completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-caine/restrooms-at-gas-stations-were-an-unpleasant-and-shocking-surprise-i/) [Rachel Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-caine/) > [Marriage, at first, may seem like it will last forever. But surprisingly, a lot of the times, it shatters easily. Like porcelain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-joon-gi/marriage-at-first-may-seem-like-it-will-last-forever-but-surprisingly/) Lee Joon-gi > [In the 19th century China dominated the manufacture of porcelain. Then European factories discovered a cheaper method of making pottery of equal quality, demolishing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-sorrell/in-the-19th-century-china-dominated-the-manufacture-of-porcelain-then/) [Martin Sorrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-sorrell/) > [When one of my Japanese teacups is broken, I imagine that the real cause was not the careless hand of a maid but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/when-one-of-my-japanese-teacups-is-broken-i-imagine-that-the-real/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [ \[In the Field Museum of Natural History\] we could see very simple, primitive, hand-built pottery from Babylonia and ancient Egypt and so forth, Greece.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/in-the-field-museum-of-natural-history-we-could-see-very-simple/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [Respect people who trust you. It takes a lot for people to trust you, so treat their trust like precious porcelain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-cox/respect-people-who-trust-you-it-takes-a-lot-for-people-to-trust-you/) Brandon Cox ## More by Eric G. Wilson > [Creating doesn't make us unhappy, unhappiness makes us creative. To create is to live, and in living, we want only to creat more, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-g-wilson/creating-doesn-t-make-us-unhappy-unhappiness-makes-us-creative-to/) [Eric G. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-g-wilson/) > [But the morbidity of sorrow-not cultivated sorrow, but that which comes inevitably-is often a productive sluggishness, a time when the soul slows down, too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-g-wilson/but-the-morbidity-of-sorrow-not-cultivated-sorrow-but-that-which/) [Eric G. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-g-wilson/) > [American seekers of happiness are in danger of deluding themselves into believing that only one part of the world exists, the part that gladdens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-g-wilson/american-seekers-of-happiness-are-in-danger-of-deluding-themselves/) [Eric G. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-g-wilson/) > [“To desire only happiness in a world undoubtedly tragic is to become inauthentic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-g-wilson/to-desire-only-happiness-in-a-world-undoubtedly-tragic-is-to-become/) [Eric G. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-g-wilson/) > [“To be fake in this dreamy universe is to believe in actual authenticity and behave accordingly, and to be in tune with the real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-g-wilson/to-be-fake-in-this-dreamy-universe-is-to-believe-in-actual/) [Eric G. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-g-wilson/) > [I realized that I had granted my illness lordship over me. In viewing my depression as a despot subjecting me to its savage fancies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-g-wilson/i-realized-that-i-had-granted-my-illness-lordship-over-me-in-viewing/) [Eric G. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-g-wilson/) > [“Do not perceive through overly judgmental eyes, prone to damnation. If you do, you are constrained to witness nothing but your notion of perfection,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-g-wilson/do-not-perceive-through-overly-judgmental-eyes-prone-to-damnation-if/) [Eric G. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-g-wilson/) > [Our past is a novel that we are constantly revising.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-g-wilson/our-past-is-a-novel-that-we-are-constantly-revising/) [Eric G. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-g-wilson/) > [“Surely some of you have felt the same way that I do. You have turned sullenly from those thousands of glowing, perfect teeth lighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-g-wilson/surely-some-of-you-have-felt-the-same-way-that-i-do-you-have-turned/) [Eric G. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-g-wilson/) [Explore all 10 Eric G. Wilson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-g-wilson/) ## More Decay quotes > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [One reason why my memory decays is that I have three cats, all so loving and insistent that they play cat's-cradle with every train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/one-reason-why-my-memory-decays-is-that-i-have-three-cats-all-so/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [I've always thought that the most extraordinary special effect you could do is to buy a child at the moment of its birth, sit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/i-ve-always-thought-that-the-most-extraordinary-special-effect-you/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [We think literature is immortal, but even that decays and ultimately turns to dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-farren/we-think-literature-is-immortal-but-even-that-decays-and-ultimately/) [Mick Farren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-farren/) > [Wise people are able to give themselves gracefully to seemingly contradictory experiences, because they know that they belong to different seasons of life, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/wise-people-are-able-to-give-themselves-gracefully-to-seemingly/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [The ensouled is distinguished from the unsouled by its being alive. Now since being alive is spoken of in many ways, even if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-ensouled-is-distinguished-from-the-unsouled-by-its-being-alive/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [It seems that the whole world is beginning to decay, and that its putrefaction has chosen to spread outward from here, from the land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmina-khadra/it-seems-that-the-whole-world-is-beginning-to-decay-and-that-its/) [Yasmina Khadra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmina-khadra/) > [No government can be strong and flourishing while the national character is weak and degraded. A government must flourish and decay with its subjects;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-robbins-curtis/no-government-can-be-strong-and-flourishing-while-the-national/) [Benjamin Robbins Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-robbins-curtis/) > [But the grind has begun. The windows don’t open, and even the availability of near-constant jokes about Jews and Mormons fails to stem the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/but-the-grind-has-begun-the-windows-don-t-open-and-even-the/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [Cocaine decisions that you make today, will mean nothing later on when you get nose decay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zappa/cocaine-decisions-that-you-make-today-will-mean-nothing-later-on-when/) [Frank Zappa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zappa/) > [“They went through the last of the cars and then walked up the track to the locomotive and climbed up to the catwalk. Rust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-went-through-the-last-of-the-cars-and-then-walked-up-the-track/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Youth should be radical. Youth should demand change in the world. Youth should not accept the old order if the world is to move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/youth-should-be-radical-youth-should-demand-change-in-the-world-youth/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [Waiting makes wine better; but waiting makes man decay! Don't wait because you have no time! Move fast!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/waiting-makes-wine-better-but-waiting-makes-man-decay-don-t-wait/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Without adventure all civilization is full of decay. Adventure rarely reaches its predetermined end. Columbus never reached China.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/without-adventure-all-civilization-is-full-of-decay-adventure-rarely/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [“Out of all its squalor and human decay, its eruptions of butchery, India produced so many people of grace and beauty, ruled by elaborate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/out-of-all-its-squalor-and-human-decay-its-eruptions-of-butchery/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 744 Decay quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The porcelain rose is not as pretty as the one that decays.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eric G. 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