Nefertiti is lovely, but we should use our wit and will to look beyond that beautiful face to discover and to enjoy a more satisfying narrative - the story of mankind, not just of man.
Interpretation
True beauty lies beyond physical appearance; we must seek deeper narratives.
Bettany Hughes emphasizes the importance of moving past superficial beauty to grasp the intricate and rich stories that make up humanity. While Nefertiti represents an enduring beauty, it is imperative that we connect with the broader narrative of human experience and understanding, rather than being distracted by mere appearances.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about the value of inner qualities over outer appearances.
I cannot write about the past unless I go where history happened. Some make very good armchair historians, I'm not one of them. If you're going to inhabit someone else's world, the very least you can do is to spend a little time in it.
We think the way we do partly because Socrates thought the way he did. His basic idea - that the unexamined life is not worth living - is what it means to live in the modern world, to develop ideas and ask questions.
Of all the human figurines discovered so far from 30,000-3,000BC, 92% are of the female form. This is not to say there was any kind of matriarchy or worship of a mother goddess - far from it - but women are conspicuous by their presence.
When she stepped out of that spumy sea Aphrodite was said to have brought fertility, flowers, life, light to a barren world. For centuries women and men went to her sanctuaries to seek her pity and protection. Her domain was originally not just lust, but lust for life.
Venus, ancient goddess of love and beauty, is an apparently irrelevant, invented deity of the long dead. But Venus merits scrutiny. Chart her life story across 5,000 years and you chart the evolution of our conflicted relationship with sex and with the female body.
Aphrodite-Venus had become not a subject of adoration, but an agent of exploitation. From the moment Christian society perceived sex not as a gift of the goddess but a crime against God himself, women were believed to be the vessels of love's malign power.
Pride is that which claims to be the author of what is really a gift.
here is a great difference between knowing a thing and understanding it. You can know a lot and not really understand anything.
There's no such thing as writer's block. That was invented by people in California who couldn't write.
Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle which fits them all.
The surest way to bring goodness to yourself is to make it your intention to do good for somebody else.
A poor self-image is the magnifying glass that can transform a trivial mistake or an imperfection into an overwhelming symbol of personal defeat.
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