--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: beauty is like piety--you cannot run and…" description: "\"beauty is like piety--you cannot run and read it; tranquility and constancy, with, now-a-days, an easy chair, are needed.\" — Herman Melville" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/394/herman-melville-162_beauty_beauty-is-like-piety-you-cannot-run-and_2291143.jpg" --- # beauty is like piety--you cannot run and read it… ![“beauty is like piety--you cannot run and read it; tranquility and constancy, with, now-a-days, an easy chair, are needed.” quote by Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/394/herman-melville-162_beauty_beauty-is-like-piety-you-cannot-run-and_2291143.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/394/herman-melville-162_beauty_beauty-is-like-piety-you-cannot-run-and_2291143.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/394/herman-melville-162_beauty_beauty-is-like-piety-you-cannot-run-and_2291143.jpg) > “beauty is like piety--you cannot run and read it; tranquility and constancy, with, now-a-days, an easy chair, are needed.” [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Beauty, like piety, requires contemplation; tranquility and constancy are needed for appreciation. **In simple terms:** Appreciating beauty needs calm and steady focus. Key Takeaway Cultivate calm to see beauty. Themes aesthetics contemplation tranquility Mood contemplative serene Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - art criticism - meditation - literary analysis Key Concepts beauty piety mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - How does tranquility affect perception of beauty? - Can we find constancy in a fast‑paced world? A Different Perspective Modern life may disrupt calm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Chairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chairs/) [Constancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constancy/) [Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy/) [Easy Chair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy-chair-2158611/) [Like Piety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-piety-903942/) [Needed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needed/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Piety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/piety/) [Read Tranquility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read-tranquility-5384292/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Tranquility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tranquility/) [Tranquility Constancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tranquility-constancy-5384293/) ## Related quotes > [Chastity, like piety, is a uniform grace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-richardson/chastity-like-piety-is-a-uniform-grace/) [Samuel Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-richardson/) > [Morals are an acquirement - like music, like a foreign language, like piety, poker, paralysis - no man is born with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/morals-are-an-acquirement-like-music-like-a-foreign-language-like/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [You rarely get satisfaction sitting in an easy chair. 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I didn't understand monogamy. I couldn't figure out how that could last. And then I met Bryn and I started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-bello/i-was-always-anti-marriage-i-didn-t-understand-monogamy-i-couldn-t/) [Maria Bello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-bello/) ## More by Herman Melville > [“and man, though idiotic, and knowing not what he does, yet full of the sweet things of love and gratitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/and-man-though-idiotic-and-knowing-not-what-he-does-yet-full-of-the/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“But were the coming narrative to reveal in any instance, the complete abasement of poor Starbuck's fortitude, scarce might I have the heart to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/but-were-the-coming-narrative-to-reveal-in-any-instance-the-complete/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“(On Ralph Waldo Emerson)I love all men who dive. 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For hardly have we mortals by long toilings extracted from this world's vast bulk its small but valuable sperm; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/yet-this-is-life-for-hardly-have-we-mortals-by-long-toilings/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [I never fancied broiling fowls; - though once broiled, judiciously buttered, and judgmatically salted and peppered, there is no one who will speak more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/i-never-fancied-broiling-fowls-though-once-broiled-judiciously/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [War should be carried on like a monsoon; one changeless determination of every particle towards the one unalterable aim.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/war-should-be-carried-on-like-a-monsoon-one-changeless-determination/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [Genius is full of trash.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/genius-is-full-of-trash/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) [Explore all 1,009 Herman Melville quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) ## 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. 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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. 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