--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The epithet beautiful is used by surgeons…" description: "\"The epithet beautiful is used by surgeons to describe operations which their patients describe as ghastly, by physicists to describe methods of measure..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/george-bernard-shaw-68_beautiful_the-epithet-beautiful-is-used-by-surgeon_1446364.jpg" --- # The epithet beautiful is used by surgeons to describe… ![“The epithet beautiful is used by surgeons to describe operations which their patients describe as ghastly, by physicists to describe methods of measurement which leave sentimentalists cold, by lawyers to describe cases which ruin all the parties to them, and by lovers to describe the objects of…” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/george-bernard-shaw-68_beautiful_the-epithet-beautiful-is-used-by-surgeon_1446364.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/george-bernard-shaw-68_beautiful_the-epithet-beautiful-is-used-by-surgeon_1446364.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/george-bernard-shaw-68_beautiful_the-epithet-beautiful-is-used-by-surgeon_1446364.jpg) > “The epithet beautiful is used by surgeons to describe operations which their patients describe as ghastly, by physicists to describe methods of measurement which leave sentimentalists cold, by lawyers to describe cases which ruin all the parties to them, and by lovers to describe the objects of their infatuation, however unattractive they may appear to the unaffected spectators.” [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The word “beautiful” is applied to things that are actually unpleasant or harmful, highlighting the subjectivity and irony in how different professions label experiences. **In simple terms:** People call unpleasant things “beautiful” to suit their perspective. Key Takeaway Recognize bias in language. Themes irony subjectivity language perception Mood ironic reflective Type analytical critical When to use this quote - medical diagnosis - scientific measurement - legal cases - romantic relationships Key Concepts Aesthetic relativism semantic irony Questions to Reflect On - How does labeling affect our judgment? - Can we see beyond flattering terms? A Different Perspective Words can mask reality, leading to misunderstanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Cases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cases/) [Cold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold/) [Describe me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/describe-me/) [Epithet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/epithet/) [Epithet Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/epithet-beautiful-5189508/) [Ghastly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghastly/) [Infatuation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infatuation/) [Infatuation Unattractive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infatuation-unattractive-5189510/) [Lawyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lawyer/) [Lovers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lovers/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Measurement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/measurement/) [Method](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/method/) [Objects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objects/) [Objects Infatuation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objects-infatuation-5189509/) [Operations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/operations/) [Party](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/party/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience/) [Patient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patient/) [Patients Ghastly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patients-ghastly-5189511/) [Physicist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physicist/) [Ruins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruins/) [Sentimentalists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sentimentalists-1507239/) [Spectators](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spectators/) [Surgeons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surgeons/) [Unattractive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unattractive/) [Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/used/) ## Related quotes > [“Very often, those who express concern about (or even interest in) the conditions in which farmed animals are raised are disregarded as sentimentalists. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathon-safran-foer/very-often-those-who-express-concern-about-or-even-interest-in-the/) [Jonathon Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-safran-foer/) > [If there is anybody I detest, it is weak-minded sentimentalists-all those melancholy people who, out of an excess of sympathy for others, miss the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/if-there-is-anybody-i-detest-it-is-weak-minded-sentimentalists-all/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [Sentimentalists are they who seek to enjoy without incurring the Immense Debtorship for a thing done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-meredith/sentimentalists-are-they-who-seek-to-enjoy-without-incurring-the/) [George Meredith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-meredith/) > [Do we want to feel better or do we want to be effective? Are we sentimentalists or are we warriors?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lierre-keith/do-we-want-to-feel-better-or-do-we-want-to-be-effective-are-we/) [Lierre Keith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lierre-keith/) > [“Vegetarians are at best kindly but unrealistic. At worst they are delusional sentimentalists.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/vegetarians-are-at-best-kindly-but-unrealistic-at-worst-they-are/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“I cannot repeat an emotion. No one can, except sentimentalists.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-cannot-repeat-an-emotion-no-one-can-except-sentimentalists/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“there are many ignorant sentimentalists who believe that our government is deserving of our loyal cooperation and support, and that every good patriot with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-duane/there-are-many-ignorant-sentimentalists-who-believe-that-our/) [James Duane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-duane/) > [“Youth is like having a big plate of candy. Sentimentalists think they want to be in the pure, simple state they were in before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/youth-is-like-having-a-big-plate-of-candy-sentimentalists-think-they-2/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [“I suffered immensely. Then it passed away. I cannot repeat an emotion. No one can, except sentimentalists.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-suffered-immensely-then-it-passed-away-i-cannot-repeat-an-emotion/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [ “An oxymoronic combination of the tough and tender, \[Of Mice and Men\] will appeal to sentimental cynics, cynical sentimentalists...Readers less easily thrown off their… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/time-life-books/an-oxymoronic-combination-of-the-tough-and-tender-of-mice-and-men/) [Time-Life Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/time-life-books/) > [It's good for you to see your friends arrested. It hardens you. There's no place in our New Order for sentimentalists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curt-siodmak/it-s-good-for-you-to-see-your-friends-arrested-it-hardens-you-there-s/) [Curt Siodmak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curt-siodmak/) > [“The trouble is, we are incurable sentimentalists. We insist on makin over historical characters to suit our preconceived notions of what they should be,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-byrd-turner/the-trouble-is-we-are-incurable-sentimentalists-we-insist-on-makin/) [Nancy Byrd Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-byrd-turner/) > [Society is infested by persons who, seeing that the sentiments please, counterfeit the expression of them. These we call sentimentalists - talkers who mistake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/society-is-infested-by-persons-who-seeing-that-the-sentiments-please/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Youth is like having a big plate of candy. Sentimentalists think they want to be in the pure, simple state they were in before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/youth-is-like-having-a-big-plate-of-candy-sentimentalists-think-they/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [Sentimentalists ... adopt whatever merit is in good repute, and almost make it hateful with their praise. The warmer their expressions, the colder we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/sentimentalists-adopt-whatever-merit-is-in-good-repute-and-almost/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More by George Bernard Shaw > [I love little children too but I don't cut off their heads and stick them in vases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-love-little-children-too-but-i-don-t-cut-off-their-heads-and-stick/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Blasphemy and sedition (meaning the truth about Church and State).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/blasphemy-and-sedition-meaning-the-truth-about-church-and-state/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In the arts of life, man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-life-man-invents-nothing-but-in-the-arts-of-death-he/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“My religious convictions and scientific views cannot at present be more specifically defined than as those of a believer in creative evolution. I desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/my-religious-convictions-and-scientific-views-cannot-at-present-be/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which he habitually acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/what-a-man-believes-may-be-ascertained-not-from-his-creed-but-from/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Men have to do some awfully mean things to keep up their respectability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/men-have-to-do-some-awfully-mean-things-to-keep-up-their/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The schoolmaster is the person who takes the children off the parents' hands for a consideration. That is to say, he establishes a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-schoolmaster-is-the-person-who-takes-the-children-off-the-parents/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/as-long-as-i-have-a-want-i-have-a-reason-for-living-satisfaction-is/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The camera can represent flesh so superbly that, if I dared, I would never photograph a figure without asking that figure to take its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-camera-can-represent-flesh-so-superbly-that-if-i-dared-i-would/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [A man who is not a communist at the age of twenty is a fool. Any man who is still communist at the age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/a-man-who-is-not-a-communist-at-the-age-of-twenty-is-a-fool-any-man/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [But to admire a strong person and to live under that strong person’s thumb are two different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/but-to-admire-a-strong-person-and-to-live-under-that-strong-person-s/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Socialism is the same as Communism, only better English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/socialism-is-the-same-as-communism-only-better-english/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The person who is ignorant enough to believe that his nourishment depends on meat is in a horrible dilemma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-person-who-is-ignorant-enough-to-believe-that-his-nourishment/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In the arts of peace Man is a bungler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-peace-man-is-a-bungler/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) [Explore all 1,640 George Bernard Shaw quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## More Beautiful quotes > [I received a beautiful welcome to the world of music. I want to give something back to the younger generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luciano-pavarotti/i-received-a-beautiful-welcome-to-the-world-of-music-i-want-to-give/) [Luciano Pavarotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luciano-pavarotti/) > [Being beautiful comes naturally!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-beautiful-comes-naturally/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. You are surrounded by nature - cats, dogs, birds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amala-akkineni/my-school-was-one-of-the-most-beautiful-places-a-child-can-grow-up-in/) [Amala Akkineni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amala-akkineni/) > [“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/) > [In the hearing world, I'm constantly having to lip-read and trying to understand what's going on. Sign language is so beautiful. It gives you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-ayling-ellis/in-the-hearing-world-i-m-constantly-having-to-lip-read-and-trying-to/) [Rose Ayling-Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-ayling-ellis/) > [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/) > [You will never know just how beautiful you are to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-will-never-know-just-how-beautiful-you-are-to-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/) [Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [You're beautiful, cute, pretty, gorgeous, and fuck.. I ran out of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/you-re-beautiful-cute-pretty-gorgeous-and-fuck-i-ran-out-of-words/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [Growing up in Iceland, it was very beautiful, very safe, but quite isolated. There was something about jazz music that had a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laufey/growing-up-in-iceland-it-was-very-beautiful-very-safe-but-quite/) [Laufey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laufey/) > [How could you feel worthless when God has honoured you by creating you and choosing you to be with Him, in this life and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-mogahed/how-could-you-feel-worthless-when-god-has-honoured-you-by-creating/) [Yasmin Mogahed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-mogahed/) > [Sometimes it's about less is more. It's about the seed. Thinking about this gigantic tree that you think is so beautiful but it started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-durst/sometimes-it-s-about-less-is-more-it-s-about-the-seed-thinking-about/) [Fred Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-durst/) > [God's Word does provide life lessons to teach us how to live. And it gives us beautiful poetry that gives voice to our human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-rothschild/god-s-word-does-provide-life-lessons-to-teach-us-how-to-live-and-it/) [Jennifer Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-rothschild/) [Browse all 17,976 Beautiful quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The epithet beautiful is used by surgeons to describe operations which their patients describe as ghastly, by physicists to describe methods of measurement which leave sentimentalists cold, by lawyers to describe cases which ruin all the parties to them, and by lovers to describe the objects of their infatuation, however unattractive they may appear to the unaffected spectators.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Bernard Shaw" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-epithet-beautiful-is-used-by-surgeons-to-describe-operations/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beautiful" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-epithet-beautiful-is-used-by-surgeons-to-describe-operations/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/george-bernard-shaw-68_beautiful_the-epithet-beautiful-is-used-by-surgeon_1446364.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/george-bernard-shaw-68_beautiful_the-epithet-beautiful-is-used-by-surgeon_1446364.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/george-bernard-shaw-68_beautiful_the-epithet-beautiful-is-used-by-surgeon_1446364.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The epithet beautiful is used by surgeons to describe operations which their patients describe as ghastly…” — George Bernard Shaw", "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": "George Bernard Shaw", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The epithet beautiful is used by...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-epithet-beautiful-is-used-by-surgeons-to-describe-operations/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-epithet-beautiful-is-used-by-surgeons-to-describe-operations/#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 } } ] } ```