ProverbHuman Nature
English origin1878
English origin1878Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Meaning: Perception of beauty is subjective and personal.
Example: “I think the old car is gorgeous; beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
Origin: The wording comes from Molly Bawn (1878), a novel by the Irish writer Margaret Wolfe Hungerford, who published as "The Duchess." The thought is older: Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost says that beauty is bought by judgment of the eye.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, and 5 more languages
French: La beauté est dans l'œil de celui qui regarde (literally: Beauty is in the eye of the one who looks)
Spanish: La belleza está en los ojos del que mira (literally: Beauty is in the eyes of the one who looks)
Japanese: 蓼食う虫も好き好き (Tade kuu mushi mo sukizuki) (literally: Some bugs even prefer bitter knotweed)
German: Schönheit liegt im Auge des Betrachters (literally: Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder)
Italian: Non è bello quel che è bello, ma è bello quel che piace (literally: Beautiful isn't what's beautiful, but what pleases)
Portuguese: Quem o feio ama, bonito lhe parece (literally: Whoever loves the ugly finds it pretty)
Dutch: De schoonheid der vrijster ligt in 's vrijers oog (literally: A maiden's beauty lies in her suitor's eye)
Russian: Не по хорошу мил, а по милу хорош (Ne po khoroshu mil, a po milu khorosh) (literally: Not dear because handsome, but handsome because dear)
Polish: Nie to ładne, co ładne, ale co się komu podoba (literally: Pretty isn't what's pretty, but what someone likes)
Chinese: 情人眼里出西施 (Qíngrén yǎn lǐ chū Xīshī) (literally: In a lover's eyes, Xi Shi appears)
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