Beauty – True and False

Beauty is widely defined as the aesthetic quality of things which makes these things enjoyable to see. These things may include sunsets, landscapes, humans and other artistic works. Beauty, along with art and taste, has been the subject of aesthetics, among the various branches of philosophy. The beauty of a picture, for example, may be defined as something beautiful in its own right or as pleasing to look at.

The term beauty, however, is not a static term. Rather, it is dependent on the cultural and individualistic perspectives of each individual. It thus varies with each and every person and beauty is most often subjective in nature. It is this subjective aspect which makes beauty a highly subjective concept, as opposed to an objective one. This idea of beauty is independent of what people think or believe to be beauty, and beauty depends only on the beholder.

When we speak of beauty then, it is usually associated with physical appearance. Everyone knows that beauty is always in the eye of the beholder and that beauty is not necessarily defined by lines, shapes and so forth. We are all attracted to certain shapes and lines and although we might disagree about the definition of beauty, everyone agrees that certain faces and bodies look more beautiful than others. A face with strong cheekbones and a shapely jaw looks extremely appealing, whereas a nose that sticks out too much is unattractive. There are many opinions about beauty but no objective criteria can be derived. Only the eyes of the beholder define beauty.

We all desire to be loved and to be appreciated and we also wish to be physically attractive and to retain that beauty for as long as possible. But how does one exactly know how to feel beautiful? What constitutes beauty in general or in particular? It is a subjective matter that each and every one of us must decide for ourselves.

The best way to decide about beauty is to accept that beauty is not a concept and that it is not defined by lines, shapes and so on. It is something that is individualistic. It depends on each and every individual to define his or her own personal beauty. Beauty has no specifications; it varies from one person to another. It depends only on the beholder! To the beholder, a lady with long hair may look very ugly but that does not make her ugly!

It is important to realize that beauty is an inner state of mind – an inner state of comfort and satisfaction with ones own self. A beautiful mind-set is very important if one is to attain any degree of beauty – high, medium or low. Each and every one of us are unique and beauty encompasses us all. We must not allow negativity to affect our lives; beauty truly is radiant and valuable!