“A beautiful woman looking at her image in the mirror may very well believe the image is herself. An ugly woman knows that it is not.”
Simone Weil, quoted by my father in response to this post. It is in this way that our most positive attributes can lead us into error; in the way that the strong sometimes mistake strength for virtue, the beautiful sometimes mistake appearance for self.
This is a possible consolation for faults and defects: they can bring us to understanding we’d otherwise lack.
