--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Beauty is a physiological reaction…" description: "\"Beauty is a physiological reaction. Beauty is not an object.\" — Peter Schjeldahl" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0b/peter-schjeldahl-12992_beauty_beauty-is-a-physiological-reaction-beaut_145098.png" --- # Beauty is a physiological reaction. Beauty is not an object. ![“Beauty is a physiological reaction. Beauty is not an object.” quote by Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0b/peter-schjeldahl-12992_beauty_beauty-is-a-physiological-reaction-beaut_145098.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0b/peter-schjeldahl-12992_beauty_beauty-is-a-physiological-reaction-beaut_145098.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0b/peter-schjeldahl-12992_beauty_beauty-is-a-physiological-reaction-beaut_145098.png) > “Beauty is a physiological reaction. Beauty is not an object.” [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Beauty is experienced as a physiological response, not as a static object. **In simple terms:** Beauty is felt, not owned. Key Takeaway Recognize beauty as an inner feeling. Themes aesthetics perception psychology subjectivity Mood appreciative thoughtful Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - art criticism - personal experience - design evaluation Key Concepts sensory response emotional reaction cultural influence Questions to Reflect On - How does your body react to beauty? - Can beauty be measured objectively? A Different Perspective Beauty can be influenced by cultural bias. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Beauty Object](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty-object-1629723/) [Beauty Physiological](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty-physiological-1629721/) [Objects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objects/) [Physiological](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physiological/) [Physiological Reaction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physiological-reaction-1629724/) [Reaction Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reaction-beauty-1629722/) [Reactions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reactions/) ## Related quotes > [“But I've always been a sucker for externals alone: the shape, the shine, what the surface suggests to my palm. So mechanically disinclined it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marisa-de-los-santos/but-i-ve-always-been-a-sucker-for-externals-alone-the-shape-the-shine/) [Marisa de los Santos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marisa-de-los-santos/) > [I'm absolutely convinced that people cannot look and read at the same time. Not any more than you can kneel and jump at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/i-m-absolutely-convinced-that-people-cannot-look-and-read-at-the-same/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [Life has to be described in pure and simple physical and physiological terms. It must be demystified and depsychologised](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/u-g-krishnamurti/life-has-to-be-described-in-pure-and-simple-physical-and/) [U.G. Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/u-g-krishnamurti/) > [When the human body is put under exceptional strain, a range of dormant genes in the DNA are expressed and extraordinary physiological processes are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-anders-ericsson/when-the-human-body-is-put-under-exceptional-strain-a-range-of/) [K. Anders Ericsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-anders-ericsson/) > [A good deal of our politics is physiological.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-good-deal-of-our-politics-is-physiological/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Physiological psychology is, therefore, first of all psychology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-wundt/physiological-psychology-is-therefore-first-of-all-psychology/) [Wilhelm Wundt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-wundt/) > [The living cell almost always contains, locked in its interior, the visible or invisible products of its physiological activity or its nourishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albrecht-kossel/the-living-cell-almost-always-contains-locked-in-its-interior-the/) [Albrecht Kossel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albrecht-kossel/) > [We are intelligent atoms. We are intelligent organic structures. We can change who we are. We can heal ourselves. With genetic engineering, we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/we-are-intelligent-atoms-we-are-intelligent-organic-structures-we-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Physiology, in its analysis of the physiological functions of the sense organs, must use the results of subjective observation of sensations; and psychology, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-wundt/physiology-in-its-analysis-of-the-physiological-functions-of-the/) [Wilhelm Wundt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-wundt/) > [Nine-tenths of the appeal of pornography is due to the indecent feelings concerning sex which moralists inculcate in the young; the other tenth is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/nine-tenths-of-the-appeal-of-pornography-is-due-to-the-indecent/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [The patterns of activity of neurons in sensory areas can be altered by patterns of attention. Experience coupled with attention leads to physical changes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-merzenich/the-patterns-of-activity-of-neurons-in-sensory-areas-can-be-altered/) [Michael Merzenich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-merzenich/) > [The powers, aspirations, and mission of man are such as to raise the study of his origin and nature, inevitably and by the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-owen/the-powers-aspirations-and-mission-of-man-are-such-as-to-raise-the/) [Richard Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-owen/) > [Perhaps the most significant thing a person can know about himself is to understand his own system of values. Almost every thing we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/perhaps-the-most-significant-thing-a-person-can-know-about-himself-is/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [This substance, which is manifold in its forms and protean in its transformations, has, in its state of living matter, one physiological name which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asa-gray/this-substance-which-is-manifold-in-its-forms-and-protean-in-its/) [Asa Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asa-gray/) > [My task was to show the psychologists that it is possible to apply physiological knowledge to the phenomena of psychical life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-sechenov/my-task-was-to-show-the-psychologists-that-it-is-possible-to-apply/) [Ivan Sechenov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-sechenov/) ## More by Peter Schjeldahl > [A word is a thought, of course. But any image, including a photograph, may become an instrument of sufficiently lucid cogitation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/a-word-is-a-thought-of-course-but-any-image-including-a-photograph/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [Artists are people who are subject to irrational convictions of the sacred. Baudelaire said that an artist is a child who has acquired adult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/artists-are-people-who-are-subject-to-irrational-convictions-of-the/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [You don't need everybody to agree with you, but you do need a few people. And by this point I have a fairly high…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/you-don-t-need-everybody-to-agree-with-you-but-you-do-need-a-few/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [I think being interested is really what being civilized is about. I mean, you have to be conscious of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/i-think-being-interested-is-really-what-being-civilized-is-about-i/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [I have painted enough to have a lot of respect for mediocre painters. It's really hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/i-have-painted-enough-to-have-a-lot-of-respect-for-mediocre-painters/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [Artists are sometimes in a position to tell the truth, but they're positioned as a Cassandra. They're gifted with impeccable prophecy and the assurance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/artists-are-sometimes-in-a-position-to-tell-the-truth-but-they-re/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [The aesthetic experience has to be given. And beauty is a regular experience of every person - every person who is not clinically depressed!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/the-aesthetic-experience-has-to-be-given-and-beauty-is-a-regular/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [Everything I've learned about art was (a) because I was actually interested, or (b) I was actually interested in covering my ass because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/everything-i-ve-learned-about-art-was-a-because-i-was-actually/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [Matisse can make you hate your life for its comparatively insipid joys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/matisse-can-make-you-hate-your-life-for-its-comparatively-insipid-joys/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [Beauty makes us more like ourselves and more like each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/beauty-makes-us-more-like-ourselves-and-more-like-each-other/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [Everybody's got plants, but most are just growing weeds. The cultivated have greater gardens, finer and gaudier gardens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/everybody-s-got-plants-but-most-are-just-growing-weeds-the-cultivated/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [I find that the mask of the critic is to have distance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/i-find-that-the-mask-of-the-critic-is-to-have-distance/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [Picasso had nicknamed Georges Braque "Wilbur," thereby becoming "Orville" in their Wright Brothers-like ambition to get painting off the ground of conventional representation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/picasso-had-nicknamed-georges-braque-wilbur-thereby-becoming-orville/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [All artists and creative people are basically unhappy people. If you were happy, that would mean you were content with the world as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/all-artists-and-creative-people-are-basically-unhappy-people-if-you/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [Artists are expected to talk about their work but writers aren't expected to talk about their writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/artists-are-expected-to-talk-about-their-work-but-writers-aren-t/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) [Explore all 52 Peter Schjeldahl quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) ## 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 a physiological reaction. 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