--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Only the rational and useful is beautiful." description: "\"Only the rational and useful is beautiful.\" — Yevgeny Zamyatin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/896/yevgeny-zamyatin-1218_beautiful_only-the-rational-and-useful-is-beautifu_915934.png" --- # Only the rational and useful is beautiful. ![“Only the rational and useful is beautiful.” quote by Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/896/yevgeny-zamyatin-1218_beautiful_only-the-rational-and-useful-is-beautifu_915934.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/896/yevgeny-zamyatin-1218_beautiful_only-the-rational-and-useful-is-beautifu_915934.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/896/yevgeny-zamyatin-1218_beautiful_only-the-rational-and-useful-is-beautifu_915934.png) > “Only the rational and useful is beautiful.” [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True beauty arises only from elements that serve a rational and practical purpose. **In simple terms:** Only useful, rational things are beautiful. Key Takeaway Seek functionality in design. Themes aesthetic functionality rationality utility Mood contemplative critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - product design - architecture - software interfaces - art installations Key Concepts design philosophy minimalism Questions to Reflect On - Can something beautiful be purely decorative? - When is utility more important than form? A Different Perspective Beauty can also be found in the irrational or decorative. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Logic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logic/) ## Related quotes > [In Nature, all is useful, all is beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-nature-all-is-useful-all-is-beautiful/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [C'est véritablement utile puisque c'est joli. It is truly useful since it is beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/c-est-v-ritablement-utile-puisque-c-est-joli-it-is-truly-useful-since/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [More useful than beautiful perhaps, my favourite regular programme is 'Question Time'. And Charlie Brooker is just hilarious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-roberts/more-useful-than-beautiful-perhaps-my-favourite-regular-programme-is/) [Alice Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-roberts/) > [The useful and the beautiful are never separated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/periander/the-useful-and-the-beautiful-are-never-separated/) [Periander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/periander/) > [Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-brett/get-rid-of-anything-that-isn-t-useful-beautiful-or-joyful/) [Regina Brett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/regina-brett/) > [A great artist is never a closed subject, but this catalogue is a milestone production, as useful as it is beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norbert-lynton/a-great-artist-is-never-a-closed-subject-but-this-catalogue-is-a/) [Norbert Lynton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norbert-lynton/) > [Always think of what is useful and not what is beautiful. Beauty will come of its own accord.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-gogol/always-think-of-what-is-useful-and-not-what-is-beautiful-beauty-will/) [Nikolai Gogol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikolai-gogol/) > [You should write, write, write every day, and learn to edit and pare it right back so you're proud of every sentence, and each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-moran/you-should-write-write-write-every-day-and-learn-to-edit-and-pare-it/) [Caitlin Moran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitlin-moran/) > [God is a specialist at making something useful and beautiful out of something broken and confused.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-r-swindoll/god-is-a-specialist-at-making-something-useful-and-beautiful-out-of/) [Charles R. Swindoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-r-swindoll/) > [It's useful because it's beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/it-s-useful-because-it-s-beautiful/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Rational argument can be defeated by refusing to argue rationally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/rational-argument-can-be-defeated-by-refusing-to-argue-rationally/) [Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/) > [The enormous usefulness of mathematics in the natural sciences is something bordering on the mysterious and there is no rational explanation of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-wigner/the-enormous-usefulness-of-mathematics-in-the-natural-sciences-is/) [Eugene Wigner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-wigner/) > [“The wrong approaches to faith and to skepticism are equally detrimental to the path. For the former declares its answers too soon and is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-wrong-approaches-to-faith-and-to-skepticism-are-equally/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [So how does one go about proving something like this? It's not like being a lawyer, where the goal is to persuade other people;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-lockhart/so-how-does-one-go-about-proving-something-like-this-it-s-not-like/) [Paul Lockhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-lockhart/) > [“Love burns past logic and all rational time lines to consume everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-thomas/love-burns-past-logic-and-all-rational-time-lines-to-consume/) [Kitty Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-thomas/) ## More by Yevgeny Zamyatin > [“Homo sapiens is only man, in the fullest sense of the word, when his grammar contains no question marks, only exclamation marks, commas, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/homo-sapiens-is-only-man-in-the-fullest-sense-of-the-word-when-his/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [knowledge, absolutely sure of its infallibility, is faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/knowledge-absolutely-sure-of-its-infallibility-is-faith/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [“Do you know this feeling? When you're in an aero speeding up through a blue spiral, the window open, the wind whistling, and there's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/do-you-know-this-feeling-when-you-re-in-an-aero-speeding-up-through-a/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [ “Heretics are the only \[bitter\] remedy against the entropy of human thought. ("Literature, Revolution, and Entropy")” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/heretics-are-the-only-bitter-remedy-against-the-entropy-of-human/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [And everyone must lose his mind, everyone must! The sooner the better! It is essential — I know it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/and-everyone-must-lose-his-mind-everyone-must-the-sooner-the-better/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [“No, I did not understand. But I nodded silently. I was dissolved, I was infinitely small, I was a point... There is, after all,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/no-i-did-not-understand-but-i-nodded-silently-i-was-dissolved-i-was/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [Revolution is everywhere, in everything. There is no final revolution, no final number.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/revolution-is-everywhere-in-everything-there-is-no-final-revolution/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [In adopting the form of the adventure novel, Wells deepened it, raised its intellectual value, and brought into it elements of social philosophy and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/in-adopting-the-form-of-the-adventure-novel-wells-deepened-it-raised/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [“You're in a bad way! Apparently, you have developed a soul." A soul? That strange, ancient, long-forgotten word. We sometimes use the words "soul-stirring,"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/you-re-in-a-bad-way-apparently-you-have-developed-a-soul-a-soul-that/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [“But how was I going to explain my whole being, this whole disease that I've been jotting down in these pages? So I shut…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/but-how-was-i-going-to-explain-my-whole-being-this-whole-disease-that/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [The lilac branches are bowed under the weight of the flowers: blooming is hard, and the most important thing is - to bloom. (“A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/the-lilac-branches-are-bowed-under-the-weight-of-the-flowers-blooming/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [what primitive tastes the ancients must have had if their poets were inspired by those absurd, untidy clumps of mist, idiotically jostling one another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/what-primitive-tastes-the-ancients-must-have-had-if-their-poets-were/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [“I felt I hadn't breathed since early morning, that my heart had not beat-and only now for the first time I took a breath,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/i-felt-i-hadn-t-breathed-since-early-morning-that-my-heart-had-not/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [“What is the matter -a soul? You say a soul? Oh, damn it! We may soon retrogress even to the cholera epidemics.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/what-is-the-matter-a-soul-you-say-a-soul-oh-damn-it-we-may-soon/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) > [The literature of the immediate future will inevitably turn away from painting, whether respectably realistic or modern, and from daily life, whether old or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/the-literature-of-the-immediate-future-will-inevitably-turn-away-from/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) [Explore all 263 Yevgeny Zamyatin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) ## More Beautiful quotes > [I received a beautiful welcome to the world of music. I want to give something back to the younger generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luciano-pavarotti/i-received-a-beautiful-welcome-to-the-world-of-music-i-want-to-give/) [Luciano Pavarotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luciano-pavarotti/) > [Being beautiful comes naturally!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-beautiful-comes-naturally/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. You are surrounded by nature - cats, dogs, birds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amala-akkineni/my-school-was-one-of-the-most-beautiful-places-a-child-can-grow-up-in/) [Amala Akkineni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amala-akkineni/) > [“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/) > [In the hearing world, I'm constantly having to lip-read and trying to understand what's going on. Sign language is so beautiful. It gives you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-ayling-ellis/in-the-hearing-world-i-m-constantly-having-to-lip-read-and-trying-to/) [Rose Ayling-Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-ayling-ellis/) > [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 > [You will never know just how beautiful you are to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-will-never-know-just-how-beautiful-you-are-to-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/) [Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [You're beautiful, cute, pretty, gorgeous, and fuck.. I ran out of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/you-re-beautiful-cute-pretty-gorgeous-and-fuck-i-ran-out-of-words/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [Growing up in Iceland, it was very beautiful, very safe, but quite isolated. There was something about jazz music that had a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laufey/growing-up-in-iceland-it-was-very-beautiful-very-safe-but-quite/) [Laufey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laufey/) > [How could you feel worthless when God has honoured you by creating you and choosing you to be with Him, in this life and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-mogahed/how-could-you-feel-worthless-when-god-has-honoured-you-by-creating/) [Yasmin Mogahed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-mogahed/) > [Sometimes it's about less is more. It's about the seed. Thinking about this gigantic tree that you think is so beautiful but it started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-durst/sometimes-it-s-about-less-is-more-it-s-about-the-seed-thinking-about/) [Fred Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-durst/) > [God's Word does provide life lessons to teach us how to live. And it gives us beautiful poetry that gives voice to our human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-rothschild/god-s-word-does-provide-life-lessons-to-teach-us-how-to-live-and-it/) [Jennifer Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-rothschild/) [Browse all 17,976 Beautiful quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Only the rational and useful is beautiful.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Yevgeny Zamyatin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/only-the-rational-and-useful-is-beautiful/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beautiful" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/only-the-rational-and-useful-is-beautiful/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/896/yevgeny-zamyatin-1218_beautiful_only-the-rational-and-useful-is-beautifu_915934.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/896/yevgeny-zamyatin-1218_beautiful_only-the-rational-and-useful-is-beautifu_915934.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/896/yevgeny-zamyatin-1218_beautiful_only-the-rational-and-useful-is-beautifu_915934.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Only the rational and useful is beautiful.” — Yevgeny Zamyatin", "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": "Yevgeny Zamyatin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Only the rational and useful is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/only-the-rational-and-useful-is-beautiful/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/only-the-rational-and-useful-is-beautiful/#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 } } ] } ```