--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What we think of as 'Physical beauty' is…" description: "\"What we think of as 'Physical beauty' is almost certainly a tag for a complex of useful survival characteristics. Smartness - intelligence - among them..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/robert-a-heinlein-209_beauty_what-we-think-of-as-physical-beauty-is-a_432728.jpg" --- # What we think of as 'Physical beauty' is almost certainly… ![“What we think of as 'Physical beauty' is almost certainly a tag for a complex of useful survival characteristics. Smartness - intelligence - among them.” quote by Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/robert-a-heinlein-209_beauty_what-we-think-of-as-physical-beauty-is-a_432728.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/robert-a-heinlein-209_beauty_what-we-think-of-as-physical-beauty-is-a_432728.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/robert-a-heinlein-209_beauty_what-we-think-of-as-physical-beauty-is-a_432728.jpg) > “What we think of as 'Physical beauty' is almost certainly a tag for a complex of useful survival characteristics. Smartness - intelligence - among them.” [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## 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 often signals underlying traits like health, intelligence, and survival fitness, making it a proxy for broader qualities. **In simple terms:** Beauty can hint at hidden strengths. Key Takeaway Look beyond surface to assess deeper qualities. Themes beauty evolution perception social judgment Mood critical reflective Type observational analytical When to use this quote - dating - hiring - networking - media representation Key Concepts signal theory mate selection cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate genuine ability from superficial appeal? - What biases affect your judgments of others? A Different Perspective Physical traits are not always reliable indicators of inner abilities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Beauty Certainly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty-certainly-3811237/) [Characteristics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/characteristics/) [Characteristics Smartness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/characteristics-smartness-3811236/) [Complexes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexes/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Physical beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physical-beauty/) [Smartness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smartness/) [Survival](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survival/) [Tag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tag/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [“External beauty is certainly cool to admire, but when worshipped - it eclipses internal shine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-f-hodge/external-beauty-is-certainly-cool-to-admire-but-when-worshipped-it/) [T.F. Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-f-hodge/) > [What finally is beauty? Certainly nothing that can be calculated or measured. It is always something imponderable, something that lies between things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe/what-finally-is-beauty-certainly-nothing-that-can-be-calculated-or/) [Ludwig Mies van der Rohe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe/) > [Luck is a tag given by the mediocre to account for the accomplishments of genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/luck-is-a-tag-given-by-the-mediocre-to-account-for-the/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“The intellectual distinction of a house and its smartness are generally in inverse rather than direct ratio.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-intellectual-distinction-of-a-house-and-its-smartness-are/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Never assimilate, simulate or co-relate somebody's cleverness with his life's smartness. Cleverness is to hide weakness and smartness is to project strength of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj-somany/never-assimilate-simulate-or-co-relate-somebody-s-cleverness-with-his/) [Anuj Somany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj-somany/) > [There is fascism , leading only into the blackness which it has chosen as its symbol, into smartness and yapping out of orders,and self-righteous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/there-is-fascism-leading-only-into-the-blackness-which-it-has-chosen/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [Never treat somebody’s cleverness as his life’s smartness. Cleverness is to hide the weakness and the smartness is to project the strength of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj/never-treat-somebody-s-cleverness-as-his-life-s-smartness-cleverness/) [Anuj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj/) > [We all like smart people but we hate it when they show their smartness to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rohit-mittal/we-all-like-smart-people-but-we-hate-it-when-they-show-their/) [Rohit Mittal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rohit-mittal/) > [I had worked on the markets with my father before going to university, so I possessed an apparent street-smartness, had access to a colourful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-jacobson/i-had-worked-on-the-markets-with-my-father-before-going-to-university/) [Howard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-jacobson/) > [Some of Mr. Gregory's poems have merely appeared in The New Yorker ; others are New Yorker poems: the inclusive topicality, the informed and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/some-of-mr-gregory-s-poems-have-merely-appeared-in-the-new-yorker/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [Good people eat all their veggies and all the fruits, but they still have good grades. I call this, Freakonomics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-pazandak/good-people-eat-all-their-veggies-and-all-the-fruits-but-they-still/) [Adam Pazandak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-pazandak/) > [The Australian accent is sort of like going down a step in smartness, you could say, because you guys pronounce things as they're spelled.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/callan-mcauliffe/the-australian-accent-is-sort-of-like-going-down-a-step-in-smartness/) [Callan McAuliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/callan-mcauliffe/) > [Whenever you wash dishes, cook, or clean, if you make no sound, this is smartness itself. A person who enters a house and makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kushi/whenever-you-wash-dishes-cook-or-clean-if-you-make-no-sound-this-is/) [Michio Kushi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kushi/) > [“Rather, your smartness and your effectiveness depend on how well you capitalize on your strongest connections.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-o-clifton/rather-your-smartness-and-your-effectiveness-depend-on-how-well-you/) [Donald O. Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-o-clifton/) > [“If you think that you're so smart and holy, that means you haven't yet realized that a part of what we experience today...is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/if-you-think-that-you-re-so-smart-and-holy-that-means-you-haven-t-yet/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) ## More by Robert A. Heinlein > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Ninety percent of all human wisdom is the ability to mind your own business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ninety-percent-of-all-human-wisdom-is-the-ability-to-mind-your-own/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [If we blow ourselves up we will do it by misapplication of science; if we manage to keep from blowing ourselves up, it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/if-we-blow-ourselves-up-we-will-do-it-by-misapplication-of-science-if/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Nor would anybody suspect. If was one thing all people took for granted, was conviction that if you feed honest figures into a computer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/nor-would-anybody-suspect-if-was-one-thing-all-people-took-for/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Women will forgive anything. Otherwise, the race would have died out long ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/women-will-forgive-anything-otherwise-the-race-would-have-died-out/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Most neuroses and some psychoses can be traced to the unnecessary and unhealthy habit of daily wallowing in the troubles and sins of five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/most-neuroses-and-some-psychoses-can-be-traced-to-the-unnecessary-and/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/no-statement-should-be-believed-because-it-is-made-by-an-authority/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“Some people are ants by nature; they have to work, even when it’s useless. Few people have a talent for constructive laziness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/some-people-are-ants-by-nature-they-have-to-work-even-when-it-s/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“The instinct to survive is human nature itself, and every aspect of our personalities derives from it. Anything that conflicts with the survival instinct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-instinct-to-survive-is-human-nature-itself-and-every-aspect-of/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“I tried to dig out of the computer a call directory for Luna. But it was still sulking. I could not get it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-tried-to-dig-out-of-the-computer-a-call-directory-for-luna-but-it/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“this has more aspects than a cat has hair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/this-has-more-aspects-than-a-cat-has-hair/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Never own more than you can carry in both hands at a dead run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/never-own-more-than-you-can-carry-in-both-hands-at-a-dead-run/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“In Wilson's scale of evaluations breakfast rated just after life itself and ahead of the chance of immortality." ~ By His Bootstraps / Robert A. Heinlein”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/in-wilson-s-scale-of-evaluations-breakfast-rated-just-after-life/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ignorance-is-curable-stupid-is-forever/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Explore all 888 Robert A. Heinlein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## 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": "What we think of as 'Physical beauty' is almost certainly a tag for a complex of useful survival characteristics. Smartness - intelligence - among them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. 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