--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty…" description: "\"“Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good only because there is evil.”\" — Lao Tzu" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c3/lao-tzu-624_beauty_under-heaven-all-can-see-beauty-as-beaut_1937966.jpg" --- # Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because… ![“Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good only because there is evil.” quote by Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c3/lao-tzu-624_beauty_under-heaven-all-can-see-beauty-as-beaut_1937966.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c3/lao-tzu-624_beauty_under-heaven-all-can-see-beauty-as-beaut_1937966.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c3/lao-tzu-624_beauty_under-heaven-all-can-see-beauty-as-beaut_1937966.jpg) > ““Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good only because there is evil.”” [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Beauty and goodness are defined by their opposites; without ugliness, beauty would be meaningless, and without evil, good would be undefined. **In simple terms:** Opposites give meaning to each other. Key Takeaway Recognize that contrast shapes perception. Themes philosophy dualism perception Mood contemplative thoughtful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - art criticism - ethical debates - personal reflection - cultural analysis Key Concepts Taoism relativism binary opposition Questions to Reflect On - How do you experience beauty without comparing it to ugliness? - Can good exist without evil? A Different Perspective The concept may overlook innate values independent of contrast. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Ugliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ugliness/) ## Related quotes > [Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good only because there is evil.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/under-heaven-all-can-see-beauty-as-beauty-only-because-there-is/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [Beauty and ugliness are only possible in the light. Common sense also survives in the dark. So do crassness, ignorance, dumbness!...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-fulger/beauty-and-ugliness-are-only-possible-in-the-light-common-sense-also/) [Mariana Fulger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-fulger/) > [We may speak about a place where there are no tears, no death, no fear, no night; but those are just the benefits of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/we-may-speak-about-a-place-where-there-are-no-tears-no-death-no-fear/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [“You have to look past the beauty to see the ugliness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nath-jones/you-have-to-look-past-the-beauty-to-see-the-ugliness/) Nath Jones > [Men and women make their own beauty or their own ugliness. 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You have to love both.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-harner/there-s-beauty-and-there-s-ugliness-you-have-to-love-both/) [Sandra Harner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-harner/) > [“Truth is Bitter & It's the Real Beauty in Ugliness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gollapalli-nithin-kumar/truth-is-bitter-it-s-the-real-beauty-in-ugliness/) Gollapalli Nithin Kumar > [The beauty or ugliness of a character lay not only in its achievements, but in its aims and impulses; its true history lay, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/the-beauty-or-ugliness-of-a-character-lay-not-only-in-its/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) ## More by Lao Tzu > [“This is how they are able to continue and endure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/this-is-how-they-are-able-to-continue-and-endure/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“Gravity is the root of lightness;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/gravity-is-the-root-of-lightness/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“Therefore the Tao is great;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/therefore-the-tao-is-great/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“Not seeking, not expecting, she is present, and can welcome all things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/not-seeking-not-expecting-she-is-present-and-can-welcome-all-things/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“What all men fear is indeed to be feared;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/what-all-men-fear-is-indeed-to-be-feared/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“Just remain in the center; watching. And then forget that you are there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/just-remain-in-the-center-watching-and-then-forget-that-you-are-there/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“This is what is called 'The mysterious Quality' (of the Tao).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/this-is-what-is-called-the-mysterious-quality-of-the-tao/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“If you show yourself, you will not be seen. If you affirm yourself, you will not shine. 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With no desire, at rest and still, All things go right as of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/simplicity-without-a-name-is-free-from-all-external-aim-with-no/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“When gold and jade fill the hall, their possessor cannot keep them safe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/when-gold-and-jade-fill-the-hall-their-possessor-cannot-keep-them-safe/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [“We listen to it, and we do not hear it, and we name it 'the Inaudible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/we-listen-to-it-and-we-do-not-hear-it-and-we-name-it-the-inaudible/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) [Explore all 434 Lao Tzu quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) ## 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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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. 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