--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Caught Beauty , held to light, now apes A…" description: "\"Caught Beauty , held to light, now apes A good, now evil, thing the shifting sign And spectrum of archaic, psychic shapes.\" — Philip Jose Farmer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ec/philip-jose-farmer-13328_apes_caught-beauty-held-to-light-now-apes-a-g_1093971.jpg" --- # Caught Beauty , held to light, now apes A good, now evil… ![“Caught Beauty , held to light, now apes A good, now evil, thing the shifting sign And spectrum of archaic, psychic shapes.” quote by Philip Jose Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ec/philip-jose-farmer-13328_apes_caught-beauty-held-to-light-now-apes-a-g_1093971.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ec/philip-jose-farmer-13328_apes_caught-beauty-held-to-light-now-apes-a-g_1093971.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ec/philip-jose-farmer-13328_apes_caught-beauty-held-to-light-now-apes-a-g_1093971.jpg) > “Caught Beauty , held to light, now apes A good, now evil, thing the shifting sign And spectrum of archaic, psychic shapes.” [Philip Jose Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poem juxtaposes beauty and darkness, suggesting reality shifts between good and evil, shaped by ancient psychic forces. **In simple terms:** Reality flips between light and dark. Key Takeaway Embrace both sides of truth. Themes duality perception psychic symbolism Mood mysterious thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - art criticism - spiritual exploration - creative writing Key Concepts metaphysics mythology Questions to Reflect On - How do you interpret shifting symbols? - What does “apes” signify here? A Different Perspective The language is obscure, limiting clarity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Evil things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil-things/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Psychics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychics/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) ## Related quotes > [“Some men may be snared by beauty alone, but none can be held except by virtue and compliance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-more/some-men-may-be-snared-by-beauty-alone-but-none-can-be-held-except-by/) [Thomas More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-more/) > [“Currently, the physical standards of beauty held up in the media as the goal are actually out of reach for 98 percent of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stasi-eldredge/currently-the-physical-standards-of-beauty-held-up-in-the-media-as/) [Stasi Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stasi-eldredge/) > [I think God gives every one of us our own will, and unfortunately, some people choose to do evil things with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/i-think-god-gives-every-one-of-us-our-own-will-and-unfortunately-some/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [I'd rather speak as a student of philosophy. Philosophically it makes no sense, absolutely makes no sense. Why should people inherit evil things when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-d-rather-speak-as-a-student-of-philosophy-philosophically-it-makes/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [Money, it has been said, is the cause of good things to a good man, of evil things to a bad man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philo/money-it-has-been-said-is-the-cause-of-good-things-to-a-good-man-of/) [Philo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philo/) > [ There is no more evil thing in this world than race prejudice, none at all. \[...\] It justifies and holds together more baseness, cruelty,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/there-is-no-more-evil-thing-in-this-world-than-race-prejudice-none-at/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [For good people to do evil things, it takes religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/for-good-people-to-do-evil-things-it-takes-religion/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [History will see advertising as one of the real evil things of our time. It is stimulating people constantly to want things, want this,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/history-will-see-advertising-as-one-of-the-real-evil-things-of-our/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [“And, as with all retold tales that are in people's hearts, there are only good and bad things and black and white things and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/and-as-with-all-retold-tales-that-are-in-people-s-hearts-there-are/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [If only evil things are done by evil people... Life would be then safe, morally elevated, cozy - we know how to spot evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-only-evil-things-are-done-by-evil-people-life-would-be-then-safe/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [I've always looked at the world as a place where people have done evil things. There are people in the world, for instance, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-sarsgaard/i-ve-always-looked-at-the-world-as-a-place-where-people-have-done/) [Peter Sarsgaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-sarsgaard/) > [With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/with-or-without-religion-you-would-have-good-people-doing-good-things/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [“Where all strange and possibly evil things begin. Wikipedia.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-d-ficklin/where-all-strange-and-possibly-evil-things-begin-wikipedia/) [Sherry D. Ficklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-d-ficklin/) > [War is an evil thing; but to submit to the dictation of other states is worse… Freedom, if we hold fast to it, will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/war-is-an-evil-thing-but-to-submit-to-the-dictation-of-other-states/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [Rock n' roll was a bad and evil thing. l remember once I was singing a Barry Manilow song, "Mandy," In the back seat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/axl-rose/rock-n-roll-was-a-bad-and-evil-thing-l-remember-once-i-was-singing-a/) [Axl Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/axl-rose/) ## More by Philip Jose Farmer > [Tomorrow changes the face of reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/tomorrow-changes-the-face-of-reality/) [Philip Jose Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/) > [Miles above the Earth we know , Fancy's rocket roars. Below, Here and Now are needles which Sew a pattern black as pitch, Waiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/miles-above-the-earth-we-know-fancy-s-rocket-roars-below-here-and-now/) [Philip Jose Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/) > [“The n'k did not want to be enlightened. They resented the truth as if it threatened them. In this respect, they are most like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/the-n-k-did-not-want-to-be-enlightened-they-resented-the-truth-as-if/) [Philip José Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/) > [One thing is sure, O comrades, that the love That fights to keep us rooted in the earth, But also urges us to dare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/one-thing-is-sure-o-comrades-that-the-love-that-fights-to-keep-us/) [Philip Jose Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/) > [“yet the world between them was wide.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/yet-the-world-between-them-was-wide/) [Philip José Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/) > [By now you must have accepted the fact that your religion , in fact, none of the Earthly religions, truly knew what the afterlife…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/by-now-you-must-have-accepted-the-fact-that-your-religion-in-fact/) [Philip Jose Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/) > [“Look at those mountains. They go straight up, smooth as a politician denying he ever made a campaign promise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/look-at-those-mountains-they-go-straight-up-smooth-as-a-politician/) [Philip José Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/) > [“First, humiliation, then humility, he would have said. And then comes humanity as a matter of course.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/first-humiliation-then-humility-he-would-have-said-and-then-comes/) [Philip José Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/) > [Sawbeaked epitome of bodiless Idea, tossed by gusts of ether, dive Through abstract mists and raid the sea of fact Eat rich strange fish,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/sawbeaked-epitome-of-bodiless-idea-tossed-by-gusts-of-ether-dive/) [Philip Jose Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/) > [All the human beings I met were either sure that there would be no afterlife or else that they would get preferential treatment in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/all-the-human-beings-i-met-were-either-sure-that-there-would-be-no/) [Philip Jose Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/) > [Let those who think the soul is shallow rail, They must be warned before they dare to leap They'll plunge into the twilight depths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/let-those-who-think-the-soul-is-shallow-rail-they-must-be-warned/) [Philip Jose Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/) > [Everybody should fear only one person, and that person should be himself .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/everybody-should-fear-only-one-person-and-that-person-should-be/) [Philip Jose Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/) > [It was the essence of life to disbelieve in death for one's self, to act as if life would continue forever. And life had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/it-was-the-essence-of-life-to-disbelieve-in-death-for-one-s-self-to/) [Philip Jose Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/) > [Resurrection, like politics, makes strange bedfellows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/resurrection-like-politics-makes-strange-bedfellows/) [Philip Jose Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/) > [“The fortune of the man who sits also sits”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/the-fortune-of-the-man-who-sits-also-sits/) [Philip José Farmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/) [Explore all 50 Philip Jose Farmer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/) ## More Apes quotes > [Television's perfect. You turn a few knobs, a few of those mechanical adjustments at which the higher apes are so proficient, and lean back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-chandler/television-s-perfect-you-turn-a-few-knobs-a-few-of-those-mechanical/) [Raymond Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-chandler/) > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [As nature made every man with a nose and eyes of his own, she gave him a character of his own, too; and yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/as-nature-made-every-man-with-a-nose-and-eyes-of-his-own-she-gave-him/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/and-the-devil-did-grin-for-his-darling-sin-is-pride-that-apes-humility/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Battle For The Planet Of The Apes', was just a film for kids and didn't have any deep meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-lee-thompson/battle-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-was-just-a-film-for-kids-and-didn-t/) J. Lee Thompson > [Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/far-out-in-the-uncharted-backwaters-of-the-unfashionable-end-of-the/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“Civilization is only a pretense; in the crisis, we become mere apes again, forgetting the rational biped of our pretensions and becoming instead the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/civilization-is-only-a-pretense-in-the-crisis-we-become-mere-apes/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The idea that war should be conducted within a moral framework may seem like a quaint medieval practice, but as speech separates humans from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-idea-that-war-should-be-conducted-within-a-moral-framework-may/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is man an ape or an angel? Now I am on the side of the angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/is-man-an-ape-or-an-angel-now-i-am-on-the-side-of-the-angels/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [Mass ought to be in Latin, unless you could do it in Greek or Chinese. In fact, any abracadabra that no bloody member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/mass-ought-to-be-in-latin-unless-you-could-do-it-in-greek-or-chinese/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [I think the problem we have as apes is we're asking far bigger questions than we could possibly process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brooker/i-think-the-problem-we-have-as-apes-is-we-re-asking-far-bigger/) [Charlie Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brooker/) > [We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realise that we are apes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-admit-that-we-are-like-apes-but-we-seldom-realise-that-we-are-apes/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Lower your gaze because you become less of a human every time you stare at a woman and you stare at her like she's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/lower-your-gaze-because-you-become-less-of-a-human-every-time-you/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [It was their individuality combined with the shyness of their behavior that remained the most captivating impression of this first encounter with the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dian-fossey/it-was-their-individuality-combined-with-the-shyness-of-their/) [Dian Fossey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dian-fossey/) > [Apes had it worked out. No ape would philosophize, "The mountain is, and is not." They would think, "The banana is. I will eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/apes-had-it-worked-out-no-ape-would-philosophize-the-mountain-is-and/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) [Browse all 444 Apes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apes/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Caught Beauty , held to light, now apes A good, now evil, thing the shifting sign And spectrum of archaic, psychic shapes.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Philip Jose Farmer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/caught-beauty-held-to-light-now-apes-a-good-now-evil-thing-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Apes" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/caught-beauty-held-to-light-now-apes-a-good-now-evil-thing-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ec/philip-jose-farmer-13328_apes_caught-beauty-held-to-light-now-apes-a-g_1093971.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ec/philip-jose-farmer-13328_apes_caught-beauty-held-to-light-now-apes-a-g_1093971.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ec/philip-jose-farmer-13328_apes_caught-beauty-held-to-light-now-apes-a-g_1093971.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Caught Beauty , held to light, now apes A good, now evil, thing the shifting sign And spectrum of archaic…” — Philip Jose Farmer", "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": "Philip Jose Farmer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-jose-farmer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Caught Beauty , held to light,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/caught-beauty-held-to-light-now-apes-a-good-now-evil-thing-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-jose-farmer/caught-beauty-held-to-light-now-apes-a-good-now-evil-thing-the/#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 } } ] } ```