--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Think of cocaine. In its natural form, as…" description: "\"“Think of cocaine. In its natural form, as coca leaves, it's appealing, but not to an extent that it usually becomes a problem. But refine it, purify i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3aa/ted-chiang-11432_beauty_think-of-cocaine-in-its-natural-form-as_1544502.jpg" --- # Think of cocaine. In its natural form, as coca leaves… ![“Think of cocaine. In its natural form, as coca leaves, it's appealing, but not to an extent that it usually becomes a problem. But refine it, purify it, and you get a compound that hits your pleasure receptors with an unnatural intensity. That's when it becomes addictive. Beauty has undergone a…” quote by Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3aa/ted-chiang-11432_beauty_think-of-cocaine-in-its-natural-form-as_1544502.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3aa/ted-chiang-11432_beauty_think-of-cocaine-in-its-natural-form-as_1544502.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3aa/ted-chiang-11432_beauty_think-of-cocaine-in-its-natural-form-as_1544502.jpg) > ““Think of cocaine. In its natural form, as coca leaves, it's appealing, but not to an extent that it usually becomes a problem. But refine it, purify it, and you get a compound that hits your pleasure receptors with an unnatural intensity. That's when it becomes addictive. Beauty has undergone a similar process, thanks to advertisers.Evolution gave us a circuit that responds to good looks--call it the pleasure receptor for our visual cortex--and in our natural environment, it was useful to have. But take a person with one-in-a-million skin and bone structure, add professional makeup and retouching, and you're no longer looking at beauty in its natural form. You've got pharmaceutical grade beauty, the cocaine of good looks.”” [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Natural beauty and drug use share a pattern: raw forms are modest, but refined, amplified versions become addictive, especially when media intensifies them. **In simple terms:** Refined beauty, like refined drugs, can become addictive. Key Takeaway Beware of over‑enhanced images. Themes beauty media addiction perception technology Mood critical reflective concerned Type analytical cautionary When to use this quote - Social media scrolling - advertising campaigns - fashion industry - personal self‑esteem - health education Key Concepts Neuroscience consumer culture psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does media manipulation affect your self‑image? - Can we enjoy beauty without addiction? A Different Perspective The analogy may oversimplify complex social and biological factors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Cocaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cocaine/) [Natural environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-environment/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [I wasn't understanding enough about drug addition. No one seemed to know much about drug addiction. Things like LSD were all new. No one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-jagger/i-wasn-t-understanding-enough-about-drug-addition-no-one-seemed-to/) [Mick Jagger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-jagger/) > [I think about my cocaine use. I liked it. I thought it was a great drug. But I knew that if I was doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-hart/i-think-about-my-cocaine-use-i-liked-it-i-thought-it-was-a-great-drug/) [Carl Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-hart/) > [I don't like drugs. I think cocaine is a very bad, habit-forming bore. It's about the most boring drug ever invented.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-jagger/i-don-t-like-drugs-i-think-cocaine-is-a-very-bad-habit-forming-bore/) [Mick Jagger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-jagger/) > [Why not go to war just for oil? We need oil. What do Hollywood celebrities imagine fuels their private jets? How do they think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-coulter/why-not-go-to-war-just-for-oil-we-need-oil-what-do-hollywood/) [Ann Coulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-coulter/) > [“Yet the Bible teaches that the local church is the natural environment for discipling. In fact, it teaches that the local church is itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/yet-the-bible-teaches-that-the-local-church-is-the-natural/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [We Floridians have always assumed an arrogant mastery over our natural environment. And we have always presumed ourselves capable of obliging the water that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-cunningham/we-floridians-have-always-assumed-an-arrogant-mastery-over-our/) Ronald Cunningham > [A natural environment is far more complex than any playing field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-louv/a-natural-environment-is-far-more-complex-than-any-playing-field/) [Richard Louv](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-louv/) > [When you defile the pleasant streams, And the wild bird's abiding place, You massacre a million dreams, And cast your spittle in God's face](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-drinkwater/when-you-defile-the-pleasant-streams-and-the-wild-bird-s-abiding/) [John Drinkwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-drinkwater/) > [Dark influences from the American past congregate among us still. If we are a democracy, what are we to make of the palpable elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/dark-influences-from-the-american-past-congregate-among-us-still-if/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [“For several months they'd been drifting toward political involvement, but the picture was hazy and one of the most confusing elements was their geographical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/for-several-months-they-d-been-drifting-toward-political-involvement/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [“Where I had expected to appreciate the monuments and love the natural environment, the reality was entirely the reverse. The immense beauty of many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/where-i-had-expected-to-appreciate-the-monuments-and-love-the-natural/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [I thrive on production. It feels very much like a natural environment for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-bigelow/i-thrive-on-production-it-feels-very-much-like-a-natural-environment/) [Kathryn Bigelow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-bigelow/) > [To care for the natural world is the most effective insurance policy we can have](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-harding/to-care-for-the-natural-world-is-the-most-effective-insurance-policy/) [Phil Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-harding/) > [One can never study nature too much and too hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/one-can-never-study-nature-too-much-and-too-hard/) [Vincent Van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [All our efforts to defeat poverty and pursue sustainable development will be in vain if environmental degradation and natural resource depletion continue unabated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/all-our-efforts-to-defeat-poverty-and-pursue-sustainable-development/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) ## More by Ted Chiang > [“The physical universe was a language with a perfectly ambiguous grammar. Every physical event was an utterance that could be parsed in two entirely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/the-physical-universe-was-a-language-with-a-perfectly-ambiguous/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [Women who work with animals hear this all the time: that their love for animals must arise out of a sublimated child-rearing urge. Ana's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/women-who-work-with-animals-hear-this-all-the-time-that-their-love/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [Contemplate the marvel that is existence, and rejoice that you are able to do so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/contemplate-the-marvel-that-is-existence-and-rejoice-that-you-are/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“Perhaps men were not meant to live in such a place. If their own natures restrained them from approaching heaven too closely, then men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/perhaps-men-were-not-meant-to-live-in-such-a-place-if-their-own/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [It is a misconception to think that during evolution humans sacrificed physical skill in exchange for intelligence: wielding one's body is a mental activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-chiang/it-is-a-misconception-to-think-that-during-evolution-humans/) [Ted Chiang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-chiang/) > [“And then there will be the times when I see you laughing. 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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. 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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": "“Think of cocaine. In its natural form, as coca leaves, it's appealing, but not to an extent that it usually becomes a problem. But refine it, purify it, and you get a compound that hits your pleasure receptors with an unnatural intensity. That's when it becomes addictive. 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