--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Then beauty is its own excuse for being." description: "\"Then beauty is its own excuse for being.\" — Ralph Waldo Emerson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4b/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_beauty_then-beauty-is-its-own-excuse-for-being_615932.png" --- # Then beauty is its own excuse for being. ![“Then beauty is its own excuse for being.” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4b/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_beauty_then-beauty-is-its-own-excuse-for-being_615932.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4b/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_beauty_then-beauty-is-its-own-excuse-for-being_615932.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4b/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_beauty_then-beauty-is-its-own-excuse-for-being_615932.png) > “Then beauty is its own excuse for being.” [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. Beauty is presented as a sufficient reason for existence, suggesting aesthetic value alone justifies being. **In simple terms:** Beauty alone justifies being. Key Takeaway Recognize beauty as an inherent purpose. Themes aesthetic existence philosophy Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - art appreciation - nature walks - creative work - self-reflection Key Concepts aesthetic justification intrinsic value Questions to Reflect On - Is beauty enough to give meaning? - How does this view affect moral judgments? A Different Perspective Beauty may be subjective and not universally persuasive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) ## Related quotes > [If eyes were made for seeing, then beauty is its own excuse for being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-eyes-were-made-for-seeing-then-beauty-is-its-own-excuse-for-being/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Rhodora! If the sages ask thee why This charm is wasted on the earth and sky, Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/rhodora-if-the-sages-ask-thee-why-this-charm-is-wasted-on-the-earth/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Tell them dear, that if eyes were made for seeing, Then beauty is its own excuse for being: Why thou wert there, O rival…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/tell-them-dear-that-if-eyes-were-made-for-seeing-then-beauty-is-its/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Beauty is its own excuse for being.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/beauty-is-its-own-excuse-for-being/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Beauty is its own excuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-greenleaf-whittier/beauty-is-its-own-excuse/) [John Greenleaf Whittier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-greenleaf-whittier/) > [We are immensed in beauty, but our eyes have no clear vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/we-are-immensed-in-beauty-but-our-eyes-have-no-clear-vision/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Thy dangerous glances make women of men; new-born, we are melting into nature again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/thy-dangerous-glances-make-women-of-men-new-born-we-are-melting-into/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Win without boasting. 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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 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. 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": "Then beauty is its own excuse for being.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ralph Waldo Emerson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/then-beauty-is-its-own-excuse-for-being/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beauty" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/then-beauty-is-its-own-excuse-for-being/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4b/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_beauty_then-beauty-is-its-own-excuse-for-being_615932.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4b/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_beauty_then-beauty-is-its-own-excuse-for-being_615932.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4b/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_beauty_then-beauty-is-its-own-excuse-for-being_615932.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Then beauty is its own excuse for being.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson", "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": "Ralph Waldo Emerson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Then beauty is its own excuse...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/then-beauty-is-its-own-excuse-for-being/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/then-beauty-is-its-own-excuse-for-being/#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 } } ] } ```