If you have the guts to be yourself, other people'll pay your price.
John UpdikeRead
Natural beauty is essentially temporary and sad, hence the impression of obscene mockery which artificial flowers give us.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Natural beauty is fleeting and its impermanence can evoke sadness, making artificial beauty seem mockingly inadequate.
This quote by John Updike reflects on the transient nature of natural beauty, suggesting that its temporary existence brings a sense of melancholy. It contrasts this with artificial flowers, which, although not genuine, highlight the irony and sadness of trying to replicate beauty that is meant to be ephemeral.
Themes
Natural BeautyTemporaryArtificialSadnessIrony
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about the importance of preserving nature, one might reference this quote to discuss the value of real beauty.
More from John Updike
All quotes βDost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of. _x000D_ _x000D_ Suspect each moment, for it is a thief, tiptoeing away with more than it brings.
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Museums and bookstores should feel, I think, like vacant lots - places where the demands on us are our own demands, where the spirit can find exercise in unsupervised play.
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But it is just two lovers, holding hands and in a hurry to reach their car, their locked hands a starfish leaping through the dark.
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The reader knows the writer better than he knows himself; but the writer's physical presence is light from a star that has moved on.
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To guarantee the individual maximum freedom within a social frame of minimal laws ensures - if not happiness - its hopeful pursuit.
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