--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pretty is something you're born with. But…" description: "\"Pretty is something you're born with. But beautiful, that's an equal opportunity adjective.\" — Ralph Waldo Emerson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80a/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_beautiful_pretty-is-something-you-re-born-with-but_1179789.png" --- # Pretty is something you're born with. But beautiful… ![“Pretty is something you're born with. But beautiful, that's an equal opportunity adjective.” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80a/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_beautiful_pretty-is-something-you-re-born-with-but_1179789.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80a/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_beautiful_pretty-is-something-you-re-born-with-but_1179789.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80a/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_beautiful_pretty-is-something-you-re-born-with-but_1179789.png) > “Pretty is something you're born with. But beautiful, that's an equal opportunity adjective.” [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Physical attractiveness is innate, but beauty is a universal quality accessible to anyone through character and actions. **In simple terms:** Beauty can be earned, not just inherited. Key Takeaway Cultivate inner qualities to become truly beautiful. Themes beauty equality character Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal relationships - public speaking - leadership - creative work Key Concepts self-improvement social perception Questions to Reflect On - How can you develop inner beauty? - What does equal opportunity mean for beauty? A Different Perspective Beauty can be limited by societal standards and bias. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Equal opportunity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equal-opportunity/) ## Related quotes > [“Some girls are pretty and they were born for it but no matter what always be yourself because people might see the wrong side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-han/some-girls-are-pretty-and-they-were-born-for-it-but-no-matter-what/) [Jenny Han](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-han/) > [“Everyone, at nineteen, is dumb and beautiful in equal parts...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raphael-kadushin/everyone-at-nineteen-is-dumb-and-beautiful-in-equal-parts/) Raphael Kadushin > [In this world, no matter if youre rich or poor, ugly or beautiful everyone is of equal status. Only those who respect the others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-this-world-no-matter-if-youre-rich-or-poor-ugly-or-beautiful/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I've always made music - pretty much since I was born.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sky-ferreira/i-ve-always-made-music-pretty-much-since-i-was-born/) [Sky Ferreira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sky-ferreira/) > [“every baby is born beautiful. It’s what we project on them that makes them ugly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/every-baby-is-born-beautiful-it-s-what-we-project-on-them-that-makes/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [Embrace what you were born with because it's beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shay-mitchell/embrace-what-you-were-born-with-because-it-s-beautiful/) [Shay Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shay-mitchell/) > [You don't have to be born beautiful to be wildly attractive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-vreeland/you-don-t-have-to-be-born-beautiful-to-be-wildly-attractive/) [Diana Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-vreeland/) > [“Some people are born beautiful. Obviously, not that many or cosmetics wouldn’t be a multi-billion dollar industry and Toni Diamond wouldn’t be giving her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-warren/some-people-are-born-beautiful-obviously-not-that-many-or-cosmetics/) Nancy Warren > [There was a part of her she hadn’t yet allowed to be born because it was too beautiful for this place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-johnson/there-was-a-part-of-her-she-hadn-t-yet-allowed-to-be-born-because-it/) [Denis Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-johnson/) > [“You were born beautiful, and you remain beautiful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-stabile/you-were-born-beautiful-and-you-remain-beautiful/) [Scott Stabile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-stabile/) > [I was born beautiful, while others were born only.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rehtse/i-was-born-beautiful-while-others-were-born-only/) Rehtse > [Everyone is born beautiful, some people just let the world turn them into something ugly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wiz-khalifa/everyone-is-born-beautiful-some-people-just-let-the-world-turn-them/) [Wiz Khalifa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wiz-khalifa/) > [There is no personal achievement in being born beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loretta-young/there-is-no-personal-achievement-in-being-born-beautiful/) [Loretta Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loretta-young/) > [Growing up, I wish I hadn't tried so hard to fit in. I'd tell myself to just embrace what you were born with because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shay-mitchell/growing-up-i-wish-i-hadn-t-tried-so-hard-to-fit-in-i-d-tell-myself-to/) [Shay Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shay-mitchell/) > [It is our destiny to be born beautiful into an ugly age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/it-is-our-destiny-to-be-born-beautiful-into-an-ugly-age/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) ## More by Ralph Waldo Emerson > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-then-creative-reading-as-well-as-creative-writing-when-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The order of things consents to virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-order-of-things-consents-to-virtue/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Life only avails, not the having lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/life-only-avails-not-the-having-lived/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A child reminds us that playtime is an essential part of our daily routine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-child-reminds-us-that-playtime-is-an-essential-part-of-our-daily/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [No man can be criticised but by a greater than he. Do not, then, read the reviews.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/no-man-can-be-criticised-but-by-a-greater-than-he-do-not-then-read/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I am; therefore, I had nothing better to do than to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-am-therefore-i-had-nothing-better-to-do-than-to-think/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends, but they are imprisoned by an enchanter in these paper and leathern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-a-library-we-are-surrounded-by-many-hundreds-of-dear-friends-but/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The compensations of calamity are made apparent to the understanding also, after long intervals of time. A fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-compensations-of-calamity-are-made-apparent-to-the-understanding/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Explore all 4,802 Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More Beautiful quotes > [I received a beautiful welcome to the world of music. I want to give something back to the younger generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luciano-pavarotti/i-received-a-beautiful-welcome-to-the-world-of-music-i-want-to-give/) [Luciano Pavarotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luciano-pavarotti/) > [Being beautiful comes naturally!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-beautiful-comes-naturally/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. 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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 > [You will never know just how beautiful you are to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-will-never-know-just-how-beautiful-you-are-to-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/) [Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. 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There was something about jazz music that had a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laufey/growing-up-in-iceland-it-was-very-beautiful-very-safe-but-quite/) [Laufey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laufey/) > [How could you feel worthless when God has honoured you by creating you and choosing you to be with Him, in this life and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-mogahed/how-could-you-feel-worthless-when-god-has-honoured-you-by-creating/) [Yasmin Mogahed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-mogahed/) > [Sometimes it's about less is more. It's about the seed. Thinking about this gigantic tree that you think is so beautiful but it started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-durst/sometimes-it-s-about-less-is-more-it-s-about-the-seed-thinking-about/) [Fred Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-durst/) > [God's Word does provide life lessons to teach us how to live. 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