In my never ending quest for sleep, I often stumble upon questions that stimulate the opposing effect. As I lie there with my thoughts churning, I came upon this question: What is the difference between pretty and beautiful? Is there any?

In our image oriented society, who better to ask than the perpetrators of this paradox?
Ourselves. Men go first.

I asked men, well, some are guys, but mostly I asked men this question:

What is the difference between pretty and beautiful?

Here are seventeen of the answers I received. What do you think?

1. Pretty = “bonita” Beautiful = “hermosa”

2. You are beautiful, everyone else is pretty.

3. Pretty is a feeling, beautiful is a thought.

4. My dog is pretty, my relationship with my dog is beautiful.

5. Pretty is one isolated quality, where beautiful is a sum of more qualities.

6. Pretty I want to fuck, beautiful is hard to fuck, but I will try.

7. Pretty only relates to looks, outside appearances. Beautiful is for the person as a whole.

8. Pretty: tender, nice, simple. Beautiful: strong, complicated, sexy.

9. Pretty is subtle, kind and soft. Beautiful isn’t.

10. Pretty someone with a cute face, beautiful is acting really sexy.

11. When she talks about herself, she is pretty, when I talk about her, she is beautiful, an amplified pretty.

12. Pretty and beautiful have no difference, they are the same thing.

13. Pretty is someone or something that looks nice, on the outside. Beautiful is something or someone that is in every way a beauty, inside and outside.

14. Pretty is very close to attractive, something that catches your attention to a certain point, that is enough for it to be looked at and interesting, beautiful leads to a stronger and more energetic attention, it captivates your attention longer and it makes you wonder about it.

15. Both describe pleasure on certain levels and it could be directed at people, things and actions.

16. I think those terms are subjective, but on a scale of one to ten, beautiful would be a nine or ten, where pretty would be seven or eight.

17. Pretty: Alice from Alice in wonderland. Beautiful: Maleficent.