--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as…" description: "\"Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be said about it. It is like the perfume of a rose: you can smell it and th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff7/w-somerset-maugham-237_beauty_beauty-is-an-ecstasy-it-is-as-simple-as_918381.jpg" --- # Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is… ![“Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be said about it. It is like the perfume of a rose: you can smell it and that is all.” quote by W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff7/w-somerset-maugham-237_beauty_beauty-is-an-ecstasy-it-is-as-simple-as_918381.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff7/w-somerset-maugham-237_beauty_beauty-is-an-ecstasy-it-is-as-simple-as_918381.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff7/w-somerset-maugham-237_beauty_beauty-is-an-ecstasy-it-is-as-simple-as_918381.jpg) > “Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger. There is really nothing to be said about it. It is like the perfume of a rose: you can smell it and that is all.” [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Beauty is an instinctual, simple pleasure, like hunger, that needs no explanation beyond its existence **In simple terms:** Beauty is a basic, instinctual pleasure that needs no words Key Takeaway Appreciate beauty without over‑analysis Themes beauty simplicity instinct Mood contemplative neutral Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - art criticism - personal reflection - mindfulness practice Key Concepts aesthetic experience sensory perception philosophy of art Questions to Reflect On - What does beauty mean to you beyond the senses? - Can simplicity in describing beauty limit deeper understanding? A Different Perspective Not everyone experiences beauty as purely instinctual; cultural context shapes perception ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Beauty Ecstasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty-ecstasy-1401353/) [Ecstasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ecstasy/) [Hunger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunger/) [Like Perfume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-perfume-377770/) [Perfume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfume/) [Perfume Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfume-rose-350814/) [Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rose/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Simple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simple/) [Smell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell/) ## Related quotes > [Beauty is an ecstasy; it is as simple as hunger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/beauty-is-an-ecstasy-it-is-as-simple-as-hunger/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [I always gravitate to perfume with rose. My mom's maiden name is Rose, and the scent of my childhood was always rose. Le Sirenuse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alana-haim/i-always-gravitate-to-perfume-with-rose-my-mom-s-maiden-name-is-rose/) [Alana Haim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alana-haim/) > [“There's no stopping the soul that radiates out and around us, any more than one can stop the sweet perfume of a rose. 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It's like a memory ... it pervades.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-vreeland/i-think-allure-is-something-around-you-like-a-perfume-or-like-a-scent/) [Diana Vreeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-vreeland/) > [Dignity is like a perfume; those who use it are scarcely conscious of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dignity-is-like-a-perfume-those-who-use-it-are-scarcely-conscious-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are no women who do not like perfume, there are women who have not found their scent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/there-are-no-women-who-do-not-like-perfume-there-are-women-who-have/) [Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [I like perfume and flowers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donatella-versace/i-like-perfume-and-flowers/) [Donatella Versace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donatella-versace/) > [Sweet praise is like perfume. It is fine if you don't swallow it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/sweet-praise-is-like-perfume-it-is-fine-if-you-don-t-swallow-it/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) ## More by W. Somerset Maugham > [“A man thinks it quite natural that he should fall out of love with a woman, but it never strikes him for a moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/a-man-thinks-it-quite-natural-that-he-should-fall-out-of-love-with-a/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“A man's work reveals him. In social intercourse he gives you the surface that he wishes the world to accept, but in his book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/a-man-s-work-reveals-him-in-social-intercourse-he-gives-you-the/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/love-is-only-a-dirty-trick-played-on-us-to-achieve-continuation-of/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [The world is hard and cruel. We are here none knows why, and we go none knows whither. We must be very humble. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/the-world-is-hard-and-cruel-we-are-here-none-knows-why-and-we-go-none/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“There is no more merit in having read a thousand books than in having ploughed a thousand fields.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/there-is-no-more-merit-in-having-read-a-thousand-books-than-in-having/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“I wanted to live again and again. I was willing to accept every sort of life, no matter what its pain and sorrow; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/i-wanted-to-live-again-and-again-i-was-willing-to-accept-every-sort/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [In Hollywood, the women are all peaches. It makes one long for an apple occasionally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/in-hollywood-the-women-are-all-peaches-it-makes-one-long-for-an-apple/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Follow your inclinations with due regard to the policeman round the corner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/follow-your-inclinations-with-due-regard-to-the-policeman-round-the/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“His love became a prison from which he longed to escape, but he had not the strength merely to open the door-that was all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/his-love-became-a-prison-from-which-he-longed-to-escape-but-he-had/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [I did not believe him capable of love. That is an emotion in which tenderness is an essential part, but Strickland had no tenderness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/i-did-not-believe-him-capable-of-love-that-is-an-emotion-in-which/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [If only the good were a little less heavy-footed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/if-only-the-good-were-a-little-less-heavy-footed/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Perfection has one grave defect: it is apt to be dull.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/perfection-has-one-grave-defect-it-is-apt-to-be-dull/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“A God that can be understood is no God. Who can explain the Infinite in words?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/a-god-that-can-be-understood-is-no-god-who-can-explain-the-infinite/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“My dear, you used to be quite a dish; now you're quite a tureen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/my-dear-you-used-to-be-quite-a-dish-now-you-re-quite-a-tureen/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“When people say they do not care what others thing of them, for the most part they deceive themselves”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/when-people-say-they-do-not-care-what-others-thing-of-them-for-the/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) [Explore all 840 W. Somerset Maugham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) ## 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. 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