---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...beauty is the projection of ugliness…"
description: "\"...beauty is the projection of ugliness and by developing certain monstrosities we obtain the purest ornaments.\" — Jean Genet"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/810/jean-genet-3865_beauty_beauty-is-the-projection-of-ugliness-and_1619108.jpg"
---

#  ...beauty is the projection of ugliness and by developing…

![“...beauty is the projection of ugliness and by developing certain monstrosities we obtain the purest ornaments.” quote by Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/810/jean-genet-3865_beauty_beauty-is-the-projection-of-ugliness-and_1619108.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/810/jean-genet-3865_beauty_beauty-is-the-projection-of-ugliness-and_1619108.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/810/jean-genet-3865_beauty_beauty-is-the-projection-of-ugliness-and_1619108.jpg)

> “...beauty is the projection of ugliness and by developing certain monstrosities we obtain the purest ornaments.”

[Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Beauty arises when ugliness is transformed, and through creating distortions we achieve the most authentic adornments.

**In simple terms:** Beauty comes from turning ugliness into something pure.

Key Takeaway

Embrace the strange to find true beauty.

Themes

art beauty transformation authenticity

Mood

provocative reflective

Type

philosophical artistic

When to use this quote

- fashion design
- visual arts
- personal style
- social critique

Key Concepts

aesthetics subversion identity expression

Questions to Reflect On

- How does embracing the grotesque reveal hidden beauty?
- When can distortion become exploitation?

A Different Perspective

May be misread as glorifying harmful distortions.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Beauty Projection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty-projection-245949/) [Certain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain/) [Monstrosities Obtain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monstrosities-obtain-245952/) [Monstrosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monstrosity/) [Ornaments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ornaments/) [Projection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/projection/) [Projection Ugliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/projection-ugliness-245950/) [Ugliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ugliness/) [Ugliness Developing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ugliness-developing-245951/)

## Related quotes

> [In a world of hunchbacks, a fine figure becomes a monstrosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/in-a-world-of-hunchbacks-a-fine-figure-becomes-a-monstrosity/)

[Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/)

> [Curiosity, earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature, gladness akin to rapture, as they unfolded to me, are among the earliest sensations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley/curiosity-earnest-research-to-learn-the-hidden-laws-of-nature/)

[Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley/)

> [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/)

> [... in all cases of monstrosity at birth anaesthetics should be applied by doctors publicly appointed for that purpose... Every successive year would see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-celeste-claflin/in-all-cases-of-monstrosity-at-birth-anaesthetics-should-be-applied/)

[Tennessee Celeste Claflin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-celeste-claflin/)

## More by Jean Genet

> [I'm homosexual. How and why are idle questions. It's a little like wanting to know why my eyes are green.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/i-m-homosexual-how-and-why-are-idle-questions-it-s-a-little-like/)

[Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/)

> [Worse than not realizing the dreams of your youth, would be to have been young and never dreamed at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/worse-than-not-realizing-the-dreams-of-your-youth-would-be-to-have/)

[Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/)

> [The most reasonable man always manages, when he pulls the trigger, to become a dispenser of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/the-most-reasonable-man-always-manages-when-he-pulls-the-trigger-to/)

[Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/)

> [I could not take lightly the idea that people made love without me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/i-could-not-take-lightly-the-idea-that-people-made-love-without-me/)

[Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/)

> [Repudiating the virtues of your world, criminals hopelessly agree to organize a forbidden universe. They agree to live in it. The air there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/repudiating-the-virtues-of-your-world-criminals-hopelessly-agree-to/)

[Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/)

> [Perhaps all music, even the newest, is not so much something discovered as something that re-emerges from where it lay buried in the memory,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/perhaps-all-music-even-the-newest-is-not-so-much-something-discovered/)

[Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/)

> [Love makes use of the worst traps. The least noble. The rarest. It exploits coincidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/love-makes-use-of-the-worst-traps-the-least-noble-the-rarest-it/)

[Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/)

> [“They made comments about the women's legs, but, as they were not witty, their remarks had no finesse. Since their emotion was not torn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/they-made-comments-about-the-women-s-legs-but-as-they-were-not-witty/)

[Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/)

> [“Thereafter, he ennobled shame. He bore it in my presence like a burden, like a tiger clinging to his shoulders, the threat of which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/thereafter-he-ennobled-shame-he-bore-it-in-my-presence-like-a-burden/)

[Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/)

> [I decided to be what crime made of me,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/i-decided-to-be-what-crime-made-of-me/)

[Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/)

> [Prison, dungeons, blessed places where evil is impossible because they are the crossroads of all the evil in the world. One cannot commit evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/prison-dungeons-blessed-places-where-evil-is-impossible-because-they/)

[Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/)

> [A great wind swept over the ghetto, carrying away shame, invisibility and four centuries of humiliation. But when the wind dropped people saw it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/a-great-wind-swept-over-the-ghetto-carrying-away-shame-invisibility/)

[Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/)

> [In reviewing my life, in tracing its course, I fill my cell with the pleasure of being what for want of a trifle I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/in-reviewing-my-life-in-tracing-its-course-i-fill-my-cell-with-the/)

[Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/)

> [“The rims of his eyelids were burning. A blow received straightens a man up and makes the body move forward, to return that blow,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/the-rims-of-his-eyelids-were-burning-a-blow-received-straightens-a/)

[Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/)

> [“My love is always sad.”' “That's right. As soon as I kiss you, you get sad. I've noticed it.” “Does it bother you?” “No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/my-love-is-always-sad-that-s-right-as-soon-as-i-kiss-you-you-get-sad/)

[Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/)

[Explore all 115 Jean Genet quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/)

## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "...beauty is the projection of ugliness and by developing certain monstrosities we obtain the purest ornaments.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Jean Genet"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/beauty-is-the-projection-of-ugliness-and-by-developing-certain/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Beauty"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/beauty-is-the-projection-of-ugliness-and-by-developing-certain/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/810/jean-genet-3865_beauty_beauty-is-the-projection-of-ugliness-and_1619108.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/810/jean-genet-3865_beauty_beauty-is-the-projection-of-ugliness-and_1619108.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/810/jean-genet-3865_beauty_beauty-is-the-projection-of-ugliness-and_1619108.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“...beauty is the projection of ugliness and by developing certain monstrosities we obtain the purest…” — Jean Genet",
                "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": "Jean Genet",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "...beauty is the projection of ugliness...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/beauty-is-the-projection-of-ugliness-and-by-developing-certain/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/beauty-is-the-projection-of-ugliness-and-by-developing-certain/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
