What is beauty?
The English word ‘beauty’ came from ‘bellus’ a Latin word which means beautiful or fine. In
time philosophers tried to define beauty in their own words, tried to confine beauty in their own
language. Some of those masterpieces stayed evergreen in the hall of fame of time. Some call
beauty an art, some call it a play of nature. Yet beauty is a thing which can be found inside of
someone’s mind and cannot be found is someone’s character. Beauty the word can be described
in thousands of words yet can be left incomplete and also can be described in a sentence and
fulfill the weight of the word completely. Beauty varies from person to person, it is not a static
thing. Beauty is vast and dynamic, from a flower to a person’s mind everything is beautiful to an
admirer who loves art. Beauty is to see beauty in beauty and ugly. True words are not
beautiful. Beautiful words are not true. (Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching)
Kant, in his Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and the Sublime, says:
"The various feelings of enjoyment or of displeasure rest not so much upon the nature of the
external things that arouse them as upon each person's own disposition to be moved by these to
pleasure or pain. This accounts for the joy of some people over things that cause aversion in
others, or the lively antipathy one person feels toward something that to another is quite
indifferent."
"Understanding is sublime, wit is beautiful. Courage is sublime and great, artfulness is little but
beautiful. Caution, said Cromwell, is a burgomaster's virtue. Veracity and honesty are simple
and noble; jest and pleasant flattery are delicate and beautiful. Graciousness is the beauty of
virtue. Unselfish zeal to serve is noble; refinement (politesse) and courtesy are beautiful.
Sublime attributes stimulate esteem, but beautiful ones, love."
"Works of understanding and ingenuity, so far as their objects also contain something for feeling,
likewise take some part in the differences now being considered. Mathematical representation of
the infinite magnitude of the universe, the meditations of metaphysics upon eternity, Providence,
and the immortality of our souls contain a certain sublimity and dignity. On the other hand,
, philosophy is distorted by many empty subtleties, and the superficial appearance of profundity
cannot prevent our regarding the four syllogistic figures as scholastic trifling."
There are two kinds of beauty: the inner and the outer.
The outer one fluctuates based on what the current trend is - and these trends are shifting almost
all the time.
This is controlled by the opinions of others, and these others can decide that pink hair is the most
beautiful one and the look needs to be completed with purple eyes.
It's almost impossible to live up to these standards because they favor youthful looks and anyone
past age 30 is deemed as, well, not so fresh anymore.
The inner one is the opinion that a person has of self: either confidence (in which case the beauty
blossoms) or doubt (in which case beauty wanes and dies).
This is the belief in oneself and does not rely on the societal landscape for validation/approval.
It stays with the person for the entire lifespan, and while the looks change (through ageing
process), the confidence grows only stronger.
Beauty is pleasure regarded as a quality of a thing. Beauty is a value, that is, it is not a perception
of a matter of fact or of a relation; it is an emotion. An object cannot be beautiful if it can give
pleasure to nobody.
— Santayana.
Beauty is not what you see in a mirror.
True beauty if personified through your spirit.
Beauty is in your grace and love it is your
Unbridled affection and appreciation.
The admiration of your personification.
Beauty is in you.