How is it possible to expect that mankind will take advice when they will not so much as take warning.
Jonathan SwiftRead
If they would, for Example, praise the Beauty of a Woman, or any other Animal, they describe it by Rhombs, Circles, Parallelograms, Ellipses, and other geometrical terms.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that people often use abstract or technical language to describe beauty rather than appreciating it directly.
Jonathan Swift's quote highlights how the beauty of a woman, or nature in general, is frequently analyzed and expressed through complex geometrical terms instead of simple admiration. This reflects a tendency to overcomplicate what is inherently beautiful, emphasizing a disconnect between understanding and experiencing beauty.
Themes
BeautyArtPerceptionGeometryAdmiration
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the representation of beauty in art critiques.
More from Jonathan Swift
All quotes βWhat vexes me most is, that my female friends, who could bear me very well a dozen years ago, have now forsaken me, although I am not so old in proportion to them as I formerly was: which I can prove by arithmetic, for then I was double their age, which now I am not. Letter to Alexander Pope. 7 Feb. 1736.
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Jonathan SwiftRead
I'm as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth.
Jonathan SwiftRead
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