--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In a world of hunchbacks, a fine figure…" description: "\"In a world of hunchbacks, a fine figure becomes a monstrosity.\" — Honore de Balzac" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fc/honor-de-balzac-197_beauty_in-a-world-of-hunchbacks-a-fine-figure-b_16739.png" --- # In a world of hunchbacks, a fine figure becomes a… ![“In a world of hunchbacks, a fine figure becomes a monstrosity.” quote by Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fc/honor-de-balzac-197_beauty_in-a-world-of-hunchbacks-a-fine-figure-b_16739.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fc/honor-de-balzac-197_beauty_in-a-world-of-hunchbacks-a-fine-figure-b_16739.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fc/honor-de-balzac-197_beauty_in-a-world-of-hunchbacks-a-fine-figure-b_16739.png) > “In a world of hunchbacks, a fine figure becomes a monstrosity.” [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Societal standards can turn what is considered attractive into something grotesque when they deviate from the norm. **In simple terms:** Beauty standards can invert perception. Key Takeaway Conformity distorts value. Themes conformity perception beauty standards social judgment identity Mood critical ironic thought‑provoking Type aphorism social critique When to use this quote - fashion critique - media representation - cultural analysis - personal self‑esteem Key Concepts social norms aesthetic value otherization Practical Applications - advertising strategy - social commentary Questions to Reflect On - How do standards shape our view of others? - What happens when norms shift? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Hunchbacks danced at my wedding for luck. It's a thing you don't see nowadays.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/hunchbacks-danced-at-my-wedding-for-luck-it-s-a-thing-you-don-t-see/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“It was difficult to anticipate—in these monsters with enormous, fantastic beaks which they opened wide immediately after birth, hissing greedily to show the backs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-schulz/it-was-difficult-to-anticipate-in-these-monsters-with-enormous/) [Bruno Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-schulz/) > [Virginity, like all monstrosities, possesses special riches and its own absorbing grandeur. Among the chaste, life forces are economized and thus gain in resistance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/virginity-like-all-monstrosities-possesses-special-riches-and-its-own/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Vanity is a relative of Pride; Vanity is talkative, pride is silent. When Vanity and Pride get together, they could make monstrosities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samael-aun-weor/vanity-is-a-relative-of-pride-vanity-is-talkative-pride-is-silent/) [Samael Aun Weor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samael-aun-weor/) > [Restoring prayer ... will scarcely at this date solve the grievous public school problem. Public schools are expensive and massive centers for cultural and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/restoring-prayer-will-scarcely-at-this-date-solve-the-grievous-public/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [As to spelling the very frequent word though with six letters instead of two, it is impossible to discuss it, as it is outside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/as-to-spelling-the-very-frequent-word-though-with-six-letters-instead/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In Miami they're building all these hideous monstrosities. It's just so easy to be an architect, once you've got the ability to do your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-hulanicki/in-miami-they-re-building-all-these-hideous-monstrosities-it-s-just/) [Barbara Hulanicki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-hulanicki/) > [Hopelessly uneconomic on any substantial scale, since it requires a conventional power back-up for when the wind stops blowing, forests of wind turbines are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-lawson/hopelessly-uneconomic-on-any-substantial-scale-since-it-requires-a/) [Nigel Lawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-lawson/) > [Donald's monstrosity is the manifestation of the very weakness within him that he's been running from his entire life. For him, there has never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-l-trump/donald-s-monstrosity-is-the-manifestation-of-the-very-weakness-within/) [Mary L. Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-l-trump/) > [The idea, therefore, that religious faith is somehow a sacred human convention—distinguished, as it is, both by the extravagance of its claims and by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-idea-therefore-that-religious-faith-is-somehow-a-sacred-human/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [It is better decoration when, in painting, some monstrosity is introduced for variety and a relaxation of the senses and to attract the attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelangelo/it-is-better-decoration-when-in-painting-some-monstrosity-is/) [Michelangelo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelangelo/) > [The God of the Bible is a moral monstrosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/the-god-of-the-bible-is-a-moral-monstrosity/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [ISIS is a monstrosity. It didn't come from nowhere. It's one of the results of the U.S. hitting a very vulnerable society - Iraq…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/isis-is-a-monstrosity-it-didn-t-come-from-nowhere-it-s-one-of-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Highest among those who have exhibited human nature by means of dialogue stands Shakespeare. His variety is like the variety of nature,--endless diversity, scarcely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/highest-among-those-who-have-exhibited-human-nature-by-means-of/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [We are very wrong to think that some fault or other can exclude virtue, or to consider the alliance of good and evil as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-de-clapiers/we-are-very-wrong-to-think-that-some-fault-or-other-can-exclude/) [Luc de Clapiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-de-clapiers/) ## More by Honore de Balzac > [“Oh, my friend, when you love, love a woman whom you are sure that you can love always. Never forsake a woman.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/oh-my-friend-when-you-love-love-a-woman-whom-you-are-sure-that-you/) [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [“You have broken the ice, though you have not even scratched its glossy surface: you have placed your hand upon the croup of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/you-have-broken-the-ice-though-you-have-not-even-scratched-its-glossy/) [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [It is quite right what they say: the three most beautiful sights in the world are a ship in full sail, a galloping horse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/it-is-quite-right-what-they-say-the-three-most-beautiful-sights-in/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [My writing table has seen all my wretchedness, knows all my plans, has overheard all my thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/my-writing-table-has-seen-all-my-wretchedness-knows-all-my-plans-has/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Foppery, being the chronic condition of women, is not so much noticed as it is when it breaks out on the person of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/foppery-being-the-chronic-condition-of-women-is-not-so-much-noticed/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [A married woman is a slave you must know how to seat upon a throne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/a-married-woman-is-a-slave-you-must-know-how-to-seat-upon-a-throne/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Rich men are resolved to be astonished at nothing. When they see a masterpiece, they must needs at one glance recognize some flaw to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/rich-men-are-resolved-to-be-astonished-at-nothing-when-they-see-a/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [I am a galley slave to pen and ink.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/i-am-a-galley-slave-to-pen-and-ink/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [One can imagine the look the two lovers exchanged; it was like a flame, for virtuous lovers have not a shred of hypocrisy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/one-can-imagine-the-look-the-two-lovers-exchanged-it-was-like-a-flame/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [White and shining virgin of all human virtues, ark of the covenant between earth and heaven, tender and strong companion partaking of the lion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/white-and-shining-virgin-of-all-human-virtues-ark-of-the-covenant/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [All men can bear a familiar, definite misfortune better than the cruel alternations of a fate which, from one moment to another, brings excessive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/all-men-can-bear-a-familiar-definite-misfortune-better-than-the-cruel/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [The mind, too, has its regimen. It needs gymnastics, just like the body does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/the-mind-too-has-its-regimen-it-needs-gymnastics-just-like-the-body/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Hatred like love feeds on the merest trifles. Everything adds to it. Just as the being we love can do no wrong, so the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/hatred-like-love-feeds-on-the-merest-trifles-everything-adds-to-it/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [All human power is a compound of time and patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/all-human-power-is-a-compound-of-time-and-patience/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [What makes friendship indissolute and what doubles its charms is a feeling we find lacking in love: I mean certitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/what-makes-friendship-indissolute-and-what-doubles-its-charms-is-a/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) [Explore all 793 Honore de Balzac quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) ## 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": "In a world of hunchbacks, a fine figure becomes a monstrosity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Honore de Balzac" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/in-a-world-of-hunchbacks-a-fine-figure-becomes-a-monstrosity/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beauty" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/in-a-world-of-hunchbacks-a-fine-figure-becomes-a-monstrosity/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fc/honor-de-balzac-197_beauty_in-a-world-of-hunchbacks-a-fine-figure-b_16739.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fc/honor-de-balzac-197_beauty_in-a-world-of-hunchbacks-a-fine-figure-b_16739.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fc/honor-de-balzac-197_beauty_in-a-world-of-hunchbacks-a-fine-figure-b_16739.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In a world of hunchbacks, a fine figure becomes a monstrosity.” — Honore de Balzac", "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": "Honore de Balzac", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In a world of hunchbacks, a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/in-a-world-of-hunchbacks-a-fine-figure-becomes-a-monstrosity/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/in-a-world-of-hunchbacks-a-fine-figure-becomes-a-monstrosity/#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 } } ] } ```