--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Perhaps it is a human thing, to look upon…" description: "\"Perhaps it is a human thing, to look upon such beauty and fail to encompass it.\" — Robin McKinley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a1/robin-mckinley-1591_beauty_perhaps-it-is-a-human-thing-to-look-upon_776176.png" --- # Perhaps it is a human thing, to look upon such beauty and… ![“Perhaps it is a human thing, to look upon such beauty and fail to encompass it.” quote by Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a1/robin-mckinley-1591_beauty_perhaps-it-is-a-human-thing-to-look-upon_776176.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a1/robin-mckinley-1591_beauty_perhaps-it-is-a-human-thing-to-look-upon_776176.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a1/robin-mckinley-1591_beauty_perhaps-it-is-a-human-thing-to-look-upon_776176.png) > “Perhaps it is a human thing, to look upon such beauty and fail to encompass it.” [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Beauty can overwhelm, making it hard to fully grasp or express, highlighting human limitation. **In simple terms:** Beauty can be too much to contain. Key Takeaway Accept limits in perception. Themes beauty human limitation awe Mood contemplative inspired Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - art appreciation - nature experiences - creative writing - education Key Concepts aesthetics philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How do we respond when beauty feels overwhelming? - Can we learn to appreciate without being consumed? A Different Perspective May cause frustration. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) ## Related quotes > [True beauty cannot fail to move the beholder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jocelyn-murray/true-beauty-cannot-fail-to-move-the-beholder/) [Jocelyn Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jocelyn-murray/) > [“...it is a dreadfull thing to look down Praecipices.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/it-is-a-dreadfull-thing-to-look-down-praecipices/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [The very first thing I look at on a woman is her toes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-lee/the-very-first-thing-i-look-at-on-a-woman-is-her-toes/) [Tommy Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-lee/) > [Sometimes, the only thing you can do is to look back for you to find out who is behind you..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherry-diaz/sometimes-the-only-thing-you-can-do-is-to-look-back-for-you-to-find/) [Cherry Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherry-diaz/) > [When I get home from school, the first thing I look for is food.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-i-get-home-from-school-the-first-thing-i-look-for-is-food/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A thing may look specious in theory, and yet be ruinous in practice; a thing may look evil in theory, and yet be in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/a-thing-may-look-specious-in-theory-and-yet-be-ruinous-in-practice-a/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I let you go!...but don't forget one thing before you do...look at your back'..i always see you where ever you go,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/axll-sblns/i-let-you-go-but-don-t-forget-one-thing-before-you-do-look-at-your/) AXLL\_SBLNS > [The most Capricorn thing about me is how serious I look until someone speaks to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ice-spice/the-most-capricorn-thing-about-me-is-how-serious-i-look-until-someone/) [Ice Spice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ice-spice/) > [“You not only have to do the right thing. You have to look like you're doing the right thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-m-paulson-jr/you-not-only-have-to-do-the-right-thing-you-have-to-look-like-you-re/) Henry M. Paulson Jr > [“When all else fails, the only thing you can do is to look above.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjorie-faith/when-all-else-fails-the-only-thing-you-can-do-is-to-look-above/) marjorie faith > [“I do hope you’re using that thing to look at photographs of Moulin Rouge ladies as a young man your age should, and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kady-cross/i-do-hope-you-re-using-that-thing-to-look-at-photographs-of-moulin/) [Kady Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kady-cross/) > [To look at any thing, If you would know that thing, You must look at it long...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-moffitt/to-look-at-any-thing-if-you-would-know-that-thing-you-must-look-at-it-2/) [John Moffitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-moffitt/) > [That idea of being so sure of what has happened, and what will happen, is the most idiotic human thing that anyone can do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oneohtrix-point-never/that-idea-of-being-so-sure-of-what-has-happened-and-what-will-happen/) [Oneohtrix Point Never](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oneohtrix-point-never/) > [I've been treated as less than human, as a thing, as a pawn. And just because I don't have a Bible or a microphone-just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-hahn/i-ve-been-treated-as-less-than-human-as-a-thing-as-a-pawn-and-just/) [Jessica Hahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-hahn/) > [One of the most consistent defining qualities of sentience is that we define it as human, as the thing that we possess that others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-joy/one-of-the-most-consistent-defining-qualities-of-sentience-is-that-we/) [Lisa Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-joy/) ## More by Robin McKinley > [It's hard to look too grand when you're led by someone who looks like a pudding with legs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/it-s-hard-to-look-too-grand-when-you-re-led-by-someone-who-looks-like/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [“The most serious drawback to the telling-nothing approach is that it made that much more of a mystery of what had happened, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/the-most-serious-drawback-to-the-telling-nothing-approach-is-that-it/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [The magic in that country was so thick and tenacious that it settled over the land like chalk-dust and over floors and shelves like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/the-magic-in-that-country-was-so-thick-and-tenacious-that-it-settled/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [“There was something very odd about the carpet this morning… More hedgehogs? Many more hedgehogs? Positively a lake of hedgehogs?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/there-was-something-very-odd-about-the-carpet-this-morning-more/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [He didn't look insane or inhuman. He did look uncooperative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/he-didn-t-look-insane-or-inhuman-he-did-look-uncooperative/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [People forgot; it was in the nature of people to forget, to blur boundaries, to retell stories to come out the way they wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/people-forgot-it-was-in-the-nature-of-people-to-forget-to-blur/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [“But he hated to see his people people unhappy--because he was a good king, not because he was a nervous one--”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/but-he-hated-to-see-his-people-people-unhappy-because-he-was-a-good/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [ “\[the sheep\] sidled up beside him and bumped him lovingly with its head. Val looked at it sadly. "I am sorry, you ugly creature,"… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/the-sheep-sidled-up-beside-him-and-bumped-him-lovingly-with-its-head/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [I long for another human face just as I fear it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/i-long-for-another-human-face-just-as-i-fear-it/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [“Rosie hated her curly golden hair. When she was old enough to hold minimal conversations, the itsy-bitsy-cutesycoo sort of grown-ups would pull the soft…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/rosie-hated-her-curly-golden-hair-when-she-was-old-enough-to-hold/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [“There was, too, a reality to her new life that her old life had lacked, and she realized with a shock that she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/there-was-too-a-reality-to-her-new-life-that-her-old-life-had-lacked/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [Oh,' she said, too bone-weary to pretend: 'I would far rather that I love you as I saw yesterday I do than that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/oh-she-said-too-bone-weary-to-pretend-i-would-far-rather-that-i-love/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [But I'm going to try to tell the truth. Except for the parts I'm leaving out, because there's still stuff I'm just not going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/but-i-m-going-to-try-to-tell-the-truth-except-for-the-parts-i-m/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [“The magic in that country was so thick and tenacious that it settled over the land like chalk-dust and over floors and shelves like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/the-magic-in-that-country-was-so-thick-and-tenacious-that-it-settled-2/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [Roses are for love. Not silly sweet-hearts' love but the love that makes you and keeps you whole, love that gets you through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/roses-are-for-love-not-silly-sweet-hearts-love-but-the-love-that/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) [Explore all 225 Robin McKinley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) ## 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 > [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": "Perhaps it is a human thing, to look upon such beauty and fail to encompass it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robin McKinley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/perhaps-it-is-a-human-thing-to-look-upon-such-beauty-and-fail-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beauty" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/perhaps-it-is-a-human-thing-to-look-upon-such-beauty-and-fail-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a1/robin-mckinley-1591_beauty_perhaps-it-is-a-human-thing-to-look-upon_776176.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a1/robin-mckinley-1591_beauty_perhaps-it-is-a-human-thing-to-look-upon_776176.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a1/robin-mckinley-1591_beauty_perhaps-it-is-a-human-thing-to-look-upon_776176.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Perhaps it is a human thing, to look upon such beauty and fail to encompass it.” — Robin McKinley", "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": "Robin McKinley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Perhaps it is a human thing,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/perhaps-it-is-a-human-thing-to-look-upon-such-beauty-and-fail-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/perhaps-it-is-a-human-thing-to-look-upon-such-beauty-and-fail-to/#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 } } ] } ```