beauty is in the eye of the beholder
BYOO-tee iz in the EYE uv the beh-HOL-der
ˈbjuːti ɪz ɪn ðə aɪ əv ðə bɪˈhoʊldərListen
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Dictionary meaning
the observation that aesthetic judgements are subjective and personal — that what one person finds beautiful another may find unremarkable or ugly, and that there is no objective standard of beauty that all observers share; the phrase expresses a relativist position in aesthetics, challenging the classical view that beauty is an inherent and universal property of certain objects; while Immanuel Kant attempted to reconcile subjective aesthetic response with universal communicability, the proverbial wisdom insists on irreducible individual difference; the saying is used to defend personal taste against criticism, to acknowledge aesthetic disagreement without conflict, and as a reminder that judgements of beauty reflect the perceiver as much as the perceived
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