There is such a thing as too much beauty in a woman and it is often a burden as crippling as homeliness and far more dangerous. It takes much luck and integrity to survive the gift of perfect beauty, and its impermanence is its most cunning betrayal.
Interpretation
Excessive beauty in a woman can be burdensome and difficult to navigate, often leading to challenges despite societal admiration.
This quote by Pat Conroy suggests that while beauty can be seen as a gift, it can also carry a heavy burden for women. The pressures and expectations associated with physical appearance can be as crippling as the stigma of being unattractive. Conroy highlights the transient nature of beauty, indicating that its impermanence is a betrayal that can lead to significant emotional challenges, underscoring the complex relationship society has with beauty.
In practice
In a discussion about societal standards, you might say, 'As Pat Conroy pointed out, there is such a thing as too much beauty.'
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Every woman I had ever met who walked through the world appraised and classified by an extraordinary physicality had also received the keys to an unbearable solitude. It was the coefficient of their beauty, the price they had to pay.
Teach them the quiet words of kindness, to live beyond themselves. Urge them toward excellence, drive them toward gentleness, pull them deep into yourself, pull them upward toward manhood, but softly like an angel arranging clouds. Let your spirit move through them softly.
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Women have face-lifts in a society in which women without them appear to vanish from sight.
There is no shame in black beauty.
I feel that beauty and femininity are ageless
Unique and different is the next generation of beautiful.
It must be hard to be a model, because you'd want to be like the photograph of you, and you can't ever look that way.
I didn't want to create a makeup line for one ethnic group; it had to be multi-ethnic. To me, beauty is beauty. It doesn't matter to me what colour the skin is.
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