--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Beauty is nothing but a promise of…" description: "\"Beauty is nothing but a promise of happiness.\" — Stendhal" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afd/stendhal-1379_beauty_beauty-is-nothing-but-a-promise-of-happi_495364.jpg" --- # Beauty is nothing but a promise of happiness. ![“Beauty is nothing but a promise of happiness.” quote by Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afd/stendhal-1379_beauty_beauty-is-nothing-but-a-promise-of-happi_495364.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afd/stendhal-1379_beauty_beauty-is-nothing-but-a-promise-of-happi_495364.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afd/stendhal-1379_beauty_beauty-is-nothing-but-a-promise-of-happi_495364.jpg) > “Beauty is nothing but a promise of happiness.” [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Beauty promises happiness but may not deliver it. **In simple terms:** Beauty is a hopeful promise. Key Takeaway Seek deeper fulfillment beyond appearance. Themes philosophy romance illusion Mood thoughtful melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - relationships - self‑esteem - consumer culture Key Concepts aesthetic ideal subjective happiness Questions to Reflect On - What truly brings lasting joy? - Can beauty be a reliable source of happiness? A Different Perspective Relying on beauty can cause disappointment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Beauty Promise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty-promise-314379/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Promise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promise/) [Promise Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promise-happiness-927133/) ## Related quotes > [Beauty is nothing other than the promise of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/beauty-is-nothing-other-than-the-promise-of-happiness/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [“Beauty, when it is not a promise of happiness, must be destroyed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-knabb/beauty-when-it-is-not-a-promise-of-happiness-must-be-destroyed/) [Ken Knabb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-knabb/) > [Beauty was the promise of happiness, not happiness itself; and the anticipated world was often more rich than anything real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-stanley-robinson/beauty-was-the-promise-of-happiness-not-happiness-itself-and-the/) [Kim Stanley Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-stanley-robinson/) > [It has been said that beauty is a promise of happiness. Conversely, the possibility of pleasure can be a beginning of beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/it-has-been-said-that-beauty-is-a-promise-of-happiness-conversely-the/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Beauty is the promise of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/beauty-is-the-promise-of-happiness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Beauty is the promise of happiness.”—Stendhal”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/beauty-is-the-promise-of-happiness-stendhal/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“Beauty is a promise of happiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/beauty-is-a-promise-of-happiness/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Beauty is the promise of happiness. And the only happiness is action. ... Fate is the path of least action.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-stanley-robinson/beauty-is-the-promise-of-happiness-and-the-only-happiness-is-action/) [Kim Stanley Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-stanley-robinson/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What is beauty, she thought, but the promise of happiness, as Stendhal said it was?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/what-is-beauty-she-thought-but-the-promise-of-happiness-as-stendhal/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [I have to keep reminding myself: If you give your life to God, he doesn't promise you happiness and that everything will go well.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-heaton/i-have-to-keep-reminding-myself-if-you-give-your-life-to-god-he-doesn/) [Patricia Heaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-heaton/) > [“They all want to be happy. They all think they should be happy. And they’re quick to trot out their most cherished document and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-wood/they-all-want-to-be-happy-they-all-think-they-should-be-happy-and/) [Geoffrey Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-wood/) > [“Evolution doesn't give a damn about your happiness, but will use the promise of happiness (using dopamine rushes) to keep you hunting, gathering, working,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-mcgonigal/evolution-doesn-t-give-a-damn-about-your-happiness-but-will-use-the/) [Kelly McGonigal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-mcgonigal/) > [Youth offers the promise of happiness, but life offers the realities of grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/youth-offers-the-promise-of-happiness-but-life-offers-the-realities/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [“The event had every promise of happiness for her friend. Mr. Weston was a man of unexceptionable character, easy fortune, suitable age, and pleasant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/the-event-had-every-promise-of-happiness-for-her-friend-mr-weston-was/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## More by Stendhal > [At a distance, we cannot conceive of the authority of a despot who knows all his subjects on sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/at-a-distance-we-cannot-conceive-of-the-authority-of-a-despot-who/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [The pleasures and the cares of the luckiest ambition, even of limitless power, are nothing next to the intimate happiness that tenderness and love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-pleasures-and-the-cares-of-the-luckiest-ambition-even-of/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [The more a race is governed by its passions, the less it has acquired the habit of cautious and reasoned argument, the more intense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-more-a-race-is-governed-by-its-passions-the-less-it-has-acquired/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [The tyranny of public opinion (and what an opinion!) is as fatuous in the small towns of France as it is in the United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-tyranny-of-public-opinion-and-what-an-opinion-is-as-fatuous-in/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [In love, unlike most other passions, the recollection of what you have had and lost is always better than what you can hope for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/in-love-unlike-most-other-passions-the-recollection-of-what-you-have/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [“The footman burst in, announcing, 'Monsieur le Duc de ---.' 'Hold your tongue, you fool,' said the Duke as he entered the room. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-footman-burst-in-announcing-monsieur-le-duc-de-hold-your-tongue/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [Signs cannot be represented, in a spy's report, so damningly as words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/signs-cannot-be-represented-in-a-spy-s-report-so-damningly-as-words/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [“If you think of paying court to those in power, your eternal ruin is assured.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/if-you-think-of-paying-court-to-those-in-power-your-eternal-ruin-is/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [Your career will be a painful one. I divine something in you which offends the vulgar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/your-career-will-be-a-painful-one-i-divine-something-in-you-which/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [On a cold winter morning a cigar fortifies the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/on-a-cold-winter-morning-a-cigar-fortifies-the-soul/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [A forty-year-old woman is only something to men who have loved her in her youth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/a-forty-year-old-woman-is-only-something-to-men-who-have-loved-her-in/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [Perhaps men who cannot love passionately are those who feel the effect of beauty most keenly; at any rate this is the strongest impression…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/perhaps-men-who-cannot-love-passionately-are-those-who-feel-the/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [Who knows whether it is not true that phosphorus and mind are not the same thing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/who-knows-whether-it-is-not-true-that-phosphorus-and-mind-are-not-the/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [“Could anything possibly be more humorous than believing in the depth or in the depravity of the Parisian character?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/could-anything-possibly-be-more-humorous-than-believing-in-the-depth/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [The idea which tyrants find most useful is the idea of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-idea-which-tyrants-find-most-useful-is-the-idea-of-god/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) [Explore all 184 Stendhal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) ## 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": "Beauty is nothing but a promise of happiness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stendhal" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/beauty-is-nothing-but-a-promise-of-happiness/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beauty" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/beauty-is-nothing-but-a-promise-of-happiness/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afd/stendhal-1379_beauty_beauty-is-nothing-but-a-promise-of-happi_495364.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afd/stendhal-1379_beauty_beauty-is-nothing-but-a-promise-of-happi_495364.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/afd/stendhal-1379_beauty_beauty-is-nothing-but-a-promise-of-happi_495364.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Beauty is nothing but a promise of happiness.” — Stendhal", "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": "Stendhal", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Beauty is nothing but a promise...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/beauty-is-nothing-but-a-promise-of-happiness/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/beauty-is-nothing-but-a-promise-of-happiness/#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 } } ] } ```