--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Talk about beauty and you get boring…" description: "\"Talk about beauty and you get boring answers, but talk about ugliness and things get interesting.\" — Rem Koolhaas" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7c/rem-koolhaas-5371_answers_talk-about-beauty-and-you-get-boring-ans_1835634.png" --- # Talk about beauty and you get boring answers, but talk… ![“Talk about beauty and you get boring answers, but talk about ugliness and things get interesting.” quote by Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7c/rem-koolhaas-5371_answers_talk-about-beauty-and-you-get-boring-ans_1835634.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7c/rem-koolhaas-5371_answers_talk-about-beauty-and-you-get-boring-ans_1835634.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7c/rem-koolhaas-5371_answers_talk-about-beauty-and-you-get-boring-ans_1835634.png) > “Talk about beauty and you get boring answers, but talk about ugliness and things get interesting.” [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He notes that discussions of beauty often become dull, while ugliness sparks curiosity and depth. **In simple terms:** Beauty talks get boring; ugliness intrigues. Key Takeaway Embrace complexity over superficiality. Themes aesthetics conversation curiosity Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - design critique - art criticism - media analysis Key Concepts Philosophy of art social critique Questions to Reflect On - Why do we gravitate to the negative? - Can beauty be made interesting? A Different Perspective Focusing on ugliness may overlook positive aspects. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Ugliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ugliness/) ## Related quotes > [The conventional idea of beauty is so boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radhika-apte/the-conventional-idea-of-beauty-is-so-boring/) [Radhika Apte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radhika-apte/) > [I also think there's too many players who say the same boring answers, they don't even have to turn up to interviews because journalists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-warne/i-also-think-there-s-too-many-players-who-say-the-same-boring-answers/) [Shane Warne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-warne/) > [It is boring to have all the answers. Only political people have answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-haneke/it-is-boring-to-have-all-the-answers-only-political-people-have/) [Michael Haneke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-haneke/) > [Beauty is boring because it is predictable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/beauty-is-boring-because-it-is-predictable/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [“How easy it is for men to talk about beauty, and how subtly intimidating when they do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-shakar/how-easy-it-is-for-men-to-talk-about-beauty-and-how-subtly/) [Alex Shakar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-shakar/) > [“people talk of beauty lightly, and having no feeling for words, they use that one carelessly, so that it loses its force; and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/people-talk-of-beauty-lightly-and-having-no-feeling-for-words-they-2/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [I grew up in a family where we weren't allowed to talk about beauty or to put any emphasis on physical appearance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-grier/i-grew-up-in-a-family-where-we-weren-t-allowed-to-talk-about-beauty/) [Pam Grier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-grier/) > [Oh, talk as we may of beauty as a thing to be chiselled from marble or wrought out on canvas, speculate as we may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-greenleaf-whittier/oh-talk-as-we-may-of-beauty-as-a-thing-to-be-chiselled-from-marble-or/) [John Greenleaf Whittier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-greenleaf-whittier/) > [People talk of beauty lightly, and having no feeling for words, they use that one carelessly, so that it loses its force; and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/people-talk-of-beauty-lightly-and-having-no-feeling-for-words-they/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Even so, I was proud of myself for taking action at all. I didn't hide or run away or pretend the ugliness didn't happen.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-myracle/even-so-i-was-proud-of-myself-for-taking-action-at-all-i-didn-t-hide/) [Lauren Myracle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-myracle/) > [Violence never quashed violence because if you're equipped to do violence then you'll continue that passage. Let's say Nazis, if Nazis they be, have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-rimbaud/violence-never-quashed-violence-because-if-you-re-equipped-to-do/) Penny Rimbaud > [If you're going to run for president as the anti-Clinton, you should know that Democrats and their media friends will do whatever it takes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gigot/if-you-re-going-to-run-for-president-as-the-anti-clinton-you-should/) [Paul Gigot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gigot/) > [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/) > [Those who do not know what love is likens it to beauty Those who claim to know what love is likens it to ugliness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tite-kubo/those-who-do-not-know-what-love-is-likens-it-to-beauty-those-who/) [Tite Kubo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tite-kubo/) > [Oh, dear Hazel.” Aphrodite folded her fan. “Such optimism, yet you have heartrending days ahead of you. Of course war is coming. Love and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/oh-dear-hazel-aphrodite-folded-her-fan-such-optimism-yet-you-have/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) ## More by Rem Koolhaas > [ That has been another interesting discovery: that basically a city \[Lagos\] could recover from a really deep, deep, deep pit. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/that-has-been-another-interesting-discovery-that-basically-a-city/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [Manhattan has generated a shameless architecture that has been loved in direct proportion to its defiant lack of self-hatred, has been respected exactly to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/manhattan-has-generated-a-shameless-architecture-that-has-been-loved/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [In a script, you have to link various episodes together, you have to generate suspense and you have to assemble things - through editing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/in-a-script-you-have-to-link-various-episodes-together-you-have-to/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [ The beauty of my profession \[architecture\] lies in its randomness and surprise. And don't think I can choose my projects. I have to build… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/the-beauty-of-my-profession-architecture-lies-in-its-randomness-and/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [Our office acts like a kind of educational establishment and we are very careful who we educate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/our-office-acts-like-a-kind-of-educational-establishment-and-we-are/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [We discovered a person in Lagos who had a fish stall, and within a single square metre she carried two children all the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/we-discovered-a-person-in-lagos-who-had-a-fish-stall-and-within-a/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [ Nigeria \[in 1990\] was all rumour, an unbelievable amount of rumour - largely about crime and almost mythical manifestations of evil. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/nigeria-in-1990-was-all-rumour-an-unbelievable-amount-of-rumour/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [Let's put it this way: One can be happy or unhappy in a building. But some buildings make us more depressed than others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/let-s-put-it-this-way-one-can-be-happy-or-unhappy-in-a-building-but/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [Nigeria was a blank on the map - there weren't even any maps. The US State Department, everyone said don't go there. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/nigeria-was-a-blank-on-the-map-there-weren-t-even-any-maps-the-us/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [The City is an addictive machine from which there is no escape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/the-city-is-an-addictive-machine-from-which-there-is-no-escape/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [The work in S, M, L, XL was almost suicidal. It required so much effort that our office almost went bankrupt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/the-work-in-s-m-l-xl-was-almost-suicidal-it-required-so-much-effort/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [Manhattan has no choice but the skyward extrusion of the Grid itself; only the Skyscraper offers business the wide-open spaces of a man-made Wild…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/manhattan-has-no-choice-but-the-skyward-extrusion-of-the-grid-itself/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [The stronger the identity, the more it imprisons, the more it resists expansion, interpretation, renewal, contradiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/the-stronger-the-identity-the-more-it-imprisons-the-more-it-resists/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [Why I talked about political correctness: the colonial is now such a major taboo that any achievement of the colonial period, or any generosity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/why-i-talked-about-political-correctness-the-colonial-is-now-such-a/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [The thing is that I have a really intense, almost compulsive need to record. But it doesn't end there, because what I record is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/the-thing-is-that-i-have-a-really-intense-almost-compulsive-need-to/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) [Explore all 101 Rem Koolhaas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) ## More Answers quotes > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [Sometimes a question can hurt more than an answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/sometimes-a-question-can-hurt-more-than-an-answer/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [You feed yourself. 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