Emerson distinguishes beauty from qualities such as prettiness, elegance or richness. Something may be attractive or skilfully made without becoming fully beautiful in his sense. Beauty arises when an object, work or scene engages the imagination and prompts a response that goes beyond its immediate appearance.

Within Beauty, the statement reflects Emerson’s broader view that aesthetic experience involves the mind as well as the senses. Imagination allows people to perceive associations, meanings and possibilities that are not contained in surface form alone. His distinction does not establish an objective test for beauty, since different observers may respond differently. Rather, it suggests that beauty has a deeper intellectual and imaginative dimension: it becomes significant when what is seen stimulates thought, feeling or interpretation beyond simple visual attractiveness.