--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I had seen faces in photographs I might…" description: "\"I had seen faces in photographs I might have found beautiful had I known even vaguely in what beauty was supposed to consist. And my father's face, on ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11b/samuel-beckett-365_aesthetics_i-had-seen-faces-in-photographs-i-might_1417969.png" --- # I had seen faces in photographs I might have found… ![“I had seen faces in photographs I might have found beautiful had I known even vaguely in what beauty was supposed to consist. And my father's face, on his death-bolster, had seemed to hint at some form of aesthetics relevant to man. But the faces of the living, all grimace and flush, can they be…” quote by Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11b/samuel-beckett-365_aesthetics_i-had-seen-faces-in-photographs-i-might_1417969.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11b/samuel-beckett-365_aesthetics_i-had-seen-faces-in-photographs-i-might_1417969.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11b/samuel-beckett-365_aesthetics_i-had-seen-faces-in-photographs-i-might_1417969.png) > “I had seen faces in photographs I might have found beautiful had I known even vaguely in what beauty was supposed to consist. And my father's face, on his death-bolster, had seemed to hint at some form of aesthetics relevant to man. But the faces of the living, all grimace and flush, can they be described as objects?” [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Aesthetic judgment is vague; beauty is hard to define without prior knowledge. **In simple terms:** Beauty is unclear without experience. Key Takeaway Explore personal definitions of beauty. Themes aesthetics perception identity Mood contemplative introspective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - art criticism - personal reflection - education Key Concepts philosophy of art subjective experience Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize beauty? - What shapes your aesthetic standards? A Different Perspective May be too abstract for casual readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aesthetics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesthetics/) [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Grimace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grimace/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) ## Related quotes > [... a fact about photography: we can look at people's faces in photographs with an intensity and intimacy that in life we normally only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/a-fact-about-photography-we-can-look-at-people-s-faces-in-photographs/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [“All the faces on the photographs have changed, To not confuse it all, the names remain the same”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antimatter-ghosts/all-the-faces-on-the-photographs-have-changed-to-not-confuse-it-all/) Antimatter - ghosts > [A man cannot paint portraits till he has seen faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/a-man-cannot-paint-portraits-till-he-has-seen-faces/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [“He did not alarm her, for she thought she had seen him before in the faces of many women who have no children. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-barrie/he-did-not-alarm-her-for-she-thought-she-had-seen-him-before-in-the/) [J.M. Barrie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-barrie/) > [“She'd seen them them all before, those faces. She knew them all, knew the sound of their voices, sounds mired in human emotions, sounds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-erikson/she-d-seen-them-them-all-before-those-faces-she-knew-them-all-knew/) [Steven Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-erikson/) > [I've turned up to auditions and seen faces that I recognise and I think I know them. Then I realise I know them because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-jones/i-ve-turned-up-to-auditions-and-seen-faces-that-i-recognise-and-i/) [Ruth Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-jones/) > [I have never seen faces, but because I have looked people in the eye, only their gazes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-schoenberg/i-have-never-seen-faces-but-because-i-have-looked-people-in-the-eye/) [Arnold Schoenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-schoenberg/) > [In the hours that followed, I learned that Ademic hand gestures did not actually represent facial expressions. It was nothing so simple as that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/in-the-hours-that-followed-i-learned-that-ademic-hand-gestures-did/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [My boyfriends have all been as stoical as queen's guards. They'd been patient, committed, and dispassionate, and I'd had to really debase myself to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/koren-zailckas/my-boyfriends-have-all-been-as-stoical-as-queen-s-guards-they-d-been/) [Koren Zailckas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/koren-zailckas/) > [Remind me one day to teach you how to achieve a sneer, Hugh. Yours is too pronounced, and thus but a grimace. It should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgette-heyer/remind-me-one-day-to-teach-you-how-to-achieve-a-sneer-hugh-yours-is/) [Georgette Heyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgette-heyer/) > [Nothing in a portrait is a matter of indifference. Gesture, grimace, clothing, decor even - all must combine to realize a character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/nothing-in-a-portrait-is-a-matter-of-indifference-gesture-grimace/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [“Every inflection and every gesture a lie, every smile a grimace.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingmar-bergman/every-inflection-and-every-gesture-a-lie-every-smile-a-grimace/) [Ingmar Bergman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingmar-bergman/) > [To transform a grimace into a sound sounds impossible, yet it is possible to transform a vision into music, to go outside an enslaved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/to-transform-a-grimace-into-a-sound-sounds-impossible-yet-it-is/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [One can lie with the mouth, but with the accompanying grimace one nevertheless tells the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-can-lie-with-the-mouth-but-with-the-accompanying-grimace-one/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Mrs. Loontwill’s face, that of a pretty woman who had aged without realizing it, screwed itself up into a grimace Alexia supposed was meant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-carriger/mrs-loontwill-s-face-that-of-a-pretty-woman-who-had-aged-without/) [Gail Carriger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-carriger/) ## More by Samuel Beckett > [“It was December, I had never felt so cold, the eel soup lay heavy on my stomach, I was afraid I'd die, I turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/it-was-december-i-had-never-felt-so-cold-the-eel-soup-lay-heavy-on-my/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“To be always what I am - and so changed from what I was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/to-be-always-what-i-am-and-so-changed-from-what-i-was/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [To what will love not stoop!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/to-what-will-love-not-stoop/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [With all this darkness round me I feel less alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/with-all-this-darkness-round-me-i-feel-less-alone/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“You may say it is all in my head, and indeed sometimes it seems to me I am in a head and that these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/you-may-say-it-is-all-in-my-head-and-indeed-sometimes-it-seems-to-me/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“Here he stood. Here he sat. Here he knelt. Here he lay. Here he moved, to and fro, from the door to the window,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/here-he-stood-here-he-sat-here-he-knelt-here-he-lay-here-he-moved-to/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [What are we doing here, that is the question. And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/what-are-we-doing-here-that-is-the-question-and-we-are-blessed-in/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [I shall state silences more competently than ever a better man spangled the butterflies of vertigo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/i-shall-state-silences-more-competently-than-ever-a-better-man/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [It is useless not to seek, not to want, for when you cease to seek you start to find, and when you cease to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/it-is-useless-not-to-seek-not-to-want-for-when-you-cease-to-seek-you/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment. How many people can boast as much?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/we-are-not-saints-but-we-have-kept-our-appointment-how-many-people/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [The new light above my table is a great improvement. With all this darkness around me I feel less alone. (Pause.) In a way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/the-new-light-above-my-table-is-a-great-improvement-with-all-this/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [I lay down across her with my face in her breasts and my hand on her. We lay there without moving. But under us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/i-lay-down-across-her-with-my-face-in-her-breasts-and-my-hand-on-her/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Women are all the bloody sameyou can't love for five minutes without wanting it abolished in brats and house bloody wifery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/women-are-all-the-bloody-sameyou-can-t-love-for-five-minutes-without/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“ESTRAGON: Do you think God sees me? VLADIMIR: You must close your eyes. Estragon closes his eyes, staggers worse. ESTRAGON: (stopping, brandishing his fists,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/estragon-do-you-think-god-sees-me-vladimir-you-must-close-your-eyes/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Deplorable mania, when something happens, to inquire what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/deplorable-mania-when-something-happens-to-inquire-what/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) [Explore all 609 Samuel Beckett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) ## More Aesthetics quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [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/) > [As a result of reading science fiction when I was eight, I grew up with an interest in music, architecture, city planning, transportation, politics,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/as-a-result-of-reading-science-fiction-when-i-was-eight-i-grew-up/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Pleasure is by no means an infallible critical guide, but it is the least fallible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/pleasure-is-by-no-means-an-infallible-critical-guide-but-it-is-the/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [ Probably the high-watermark of \[Bob\] Dylan's career came after he plugged in his guitar ("Judas!" one fan shouted during a concert) and exploded American… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-michaelson/probably-the-high-watermark-of-bob-dylan-s-career-came-after-he/) [Jay Michaelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-michaelson/) > [Road cycling, especially up mountains. It's the heady mixture of endorphins and aesthetics that I love. My wife does it too, and being with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-kemp/road-cycling-especially-up-mountains-it-s-the-heady-mixture-of/) [Gary Kemp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-kemp/) > [“No man sings as beautifully as when his song is accompanied by a woman’s voice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/no-man-sings-as-beautifully-as-when-his-song-is-accompanied-by-a/) [Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/) > [ \[Alexei Nemov\] has the best feel for the aesthetics of the sport. He doesn't just do a skill; he makes it look gorgeous. Some… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-vidmar/alexei-nemov-has-the-best-feel-for-the-aesthetics-of-the-sport-he/) [Peter Vidmar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-vidmar/) > [The great work of art is the complete banality, and the fault with most banalities is that they are not banal enough. Banality here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asger-jorn/the-great-work-of-art-is-the-complete-banality-and-the-fault-with/) [Asger Jorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asger-jorn/) > [I find the aesthetics of the 20th century hopelessly barren.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-find-the-aesthetics-of-the-20th-century-hopelessly-barren/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [For it is a mad world and it will get madder if we allow the minorities, be they dwarf or giant, orangutan or dolphin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/for-it-is-a-mad-world-and-it-will-get-madder-if-we-allow-the/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [We’re surrounded by anonymous, poorly made objects. It’s tempting to think it’s because the people who use them don’t care-just like the people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-ive/we-re-surrounded-by-anonymous-poorly-made-objects-it-s-tempting-to/) [Jonathan Ive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-ive/) > [After a certain high level of technical skill is achieved science and art tend to coalesce in aesthetics, plasticity, and form. The greatest scientists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/after-a-certain-high-level-of-technical-skill-is-achieved-science-and/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [There's only so much you can do until you get on set and see the aesthetics of what you're dealing with. Then you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-urban/there-s-only-so-much-you-can-do-until-you-get-on-set-and-see-the/) [Karl Urban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-urban/) > [In our view the Olympic idea involves a strong physical culture supplemented on the one hand by mobility, what is so aptly called 'fair…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-de-coubertin/in-our-view-the-olympic-idea-involves-a-strong-physical-culture/) [Pierre de Coubertin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-de-coubertin/) [Browse all 302 Aesthetics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesthetics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I had seen faces in photographs I might have found beautiful had I known even vaguely in what beauty was supposed to consist. And my father's face, on his death-bolster, had seemed to hint at some form of aesthetics relevant to man. 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