Perception

Explore 19 quotes about Perception

What is originality? To see something that has no name as yet and hence cannot be mentioned although it stares us all in the face.

Friedrich Nietzsche

The Gay Science

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Topic

Originality Perception Observation Vision

Author

Friedrich Nietzsche

Source

The Gay Science

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Question

Language

German

Time

1882 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Die frohliche Wissenschaft [The Gay Science]. Chemnitz: Ernst Schmeitzner, 1882, bk. 3, no. 261.

Current Citation

Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Joyous Science, translated by R. Kevin Hill. Penguin Classics, 2019, bk. 3, no. 261.

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eyes.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The Little Prince

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Topic

What really matters The heart Perception Reason and emotion

Speaker

Fox

Author

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Source

The Little Prince

Language

French

Time

1943 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

De Saint-Exupery, Antoine. Le Petit Prince [The Little Prince]. Reynal & Hitchcock, 1943, ch. 21.

Seeing is forgetting the name of the things one sees.

Paul Valéry

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Topic

Names Perception

Author

Paul Valéry

Medium

Essay

Statement Type

Paradox Zen koan

Language

French

Time

1936 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Valéry, Paul. Quoted in Robert Irwin: A Way to Look at Things by Not Forgetting Their Names, written by Adrian Kohn. c. 1982.

Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again.

Acts 9:18

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Topic

New perspective Seeing Perception

Source

Book of Acts The Bible

Medium

Scripture

Genre

Religious literature

Language

Greek

Time

62 60s 1st century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Holy Bible, New International Version. International Bible Society, 1978. (Acts 9:18).

Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.

Jonathan Swift

Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting

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Topic

Vision Perception

Author

Jonathan Swift

Source

Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting

Medium

Essay

Genre

Satire

Language

English

Time

1745 1740s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Swift, Jonathan. "Thoughts on Various Subjects." Miscellanies. Vol. 11, London: C. Hitch, C. Davis, R. Dodsley and W. Bowyer, 1751.

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen nor even touched, but just felt in the heart.

Helen Keller

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Topic

Things not seen Perception The heart

Author

Helen Keller

Source

Letters of Helen Keller

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1891 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Keller, Helen. Letter to Reverend Phillips Brooks. 8 June 1891.

Shut your eyes and see.

James Joyce

Ulysses

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Topic

Perception Observation

Author

James Joyce

Source

Ulysses

Medium

Novel

Genre

Modernist literature

Statement Type

Orders and commands Zen koan

Language

English

Time

1922 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Joyce, James. Ulysses. Shakespeare and Company, 1922, bk. 1, ch. 3.

Current Citation

Joyce, James. The Cambridge Centenary Ulysses: The 1922 Text with Essays and Notes, edited by Catherine Flynn. Cambridge University Press, 2022, ch. 3.

If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.

William Blake

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

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Topic

The infinite Appearance vs. reality Perception

Author

William Blake

Source

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Medium

Poem

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1793 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Blake, William. "The Argument." The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. c. 1790.

Current Citation

Blake, William. "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell." The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake, edited by David V. Erdman. University of California Press, 2008.

Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.

Arthur Schopenhauer

Studies in Pessimism

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Topic

Myopia Perception Parochialism Cognitive biases Perspective

Author

Arthur Schopenhauer

Source

Further Psychological Observations Studies in Pessimism

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

German

Time

1851 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Schopenhauer, Arthur. Studies in Pessimism. c. 1851.

Current Citation

Schopenhauer, Arthur. Studies in Pessimism. University of California Libraries, 2011.

Color is the place where our brain meets the universe.

Paul Cézanne

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Topic

Color Perception

Speaker

Paul Cézanne

Source

Conversations with Cézanne

Medium

Interview

Language

French

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Cézanne, Paul. Cézanne: A Memoir with Conversations, 1897 - 1906. Thames and Hudson, 1991. Originally stated during a conversion with Joachim Gasquet, c. 1906.

We must be careful of what we think we are, because we may become that.

James Q. Wilson

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Topic

Perception

Author

James Q. Wilson

Source

The Moral Sense

Language

English

Time

1993 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Wilson, James Q. The Moral Sense. Simon & Schuster, 1993.

Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing!

Camille Pissarro

More information about this quote

Topic

Finding beauty Paying attention Perception Observation Beauty

Author

Camille Pissarro

Source

Letters of Camille Pissarro

Medium

Letter

Language

French

Time

1893 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Pissarro, Camille. Letter to his son Lucien. 26 July 1893.

Current Citation

Pissarro, Camille. Quoted in Letters of the Great Artists: From Blake to Pollock, edited by Richard Friedenthal. Random House, 1963.

Every act of perception, is to some degree an act of creation, and every act of memory is to some degree an act of imagination.

Gerald M. Edelman

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Topic

Perception Observation Creation Memory Imagination

Author

Gerald M. Edelman

Source

A Universe of Consciousness

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

English

Time

2000 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Edelman, Sam and Giulio Tononi. A Universe of Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imagination. Basic Books, 2000.

The great source of both the misery and disorders of human life seems to arise from overrating the difference between one permanent situation and another. Avarice overrates the difference between poverty and riches: ambition, that between a private and a public station: vainglory, that between obscurity and extensive reputation. The person under the influence of any of those extravagant passions is not only miserable in his actual situation, but is often disposed to disturb the peace of society, in order to arrive at that which he so foolishly admires.

Adam Smith

The Theory of Moral Sentiments

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Topic

Perception vs. reality Perception

Author

Adam Smith

Source

The Theory of Moral Sentiments

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1759 1750s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Smith, Adam. The Theory of Moral Sentiments. London: Andrew Millar/Edinburgh: Alexander Kincaid and J. Bell, 1759, pt. 3, ch. 3.

Current Citation

Smith, Adam. The Theory of Moral Sentiments, edited by Ryan Patrick Hanley. Penguin, 2010, pt. 3, ch. 3.

Appearances to the mind are of four kinds. Things are either what they appear to be; or they are neither are, nor appear to be; or they are, and do not appear to be; or they are not and yet appear to be. Rightly to aim in all these cases is the wise man's task.

Epictetus

Discourses

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Topic

Appearance vs. reality Perception

Author

Epictetus

Source

Discourses

Medium

Lecture

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Greek

Time

108 100s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Epictetus. Ἐπικτήτου διατριβαί, Epiktētou diatribai [The Discourses of Epictetus]. c. 108, bk. 1, ch. 27.

Current Citation

Epictetus. "The Discourses." Discourses and Other Writings, edited and translated by Robert Dobbin. Penguin Classics, 2008, bk. 1, ch. 27.

You see things and you understand. You're a wallflower.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

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Topic

Introverts Observation Perception

Speaker

Patrick

Actor

Ezra Miller

Source

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Medium

Film

Genre

Coming of age (film) Drama (film) Coming of age Drama

Language

English

Time

2012 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Directed by Stephen Chbosky, Mr. Mudd Productions, 2012.

Some people can read War and Peace and come away thinking it's a simple adventure story. Others can read the ingredients on a chewing gum wrapper and unlock the secrets of the universe.

Superman

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Topic

Reading Perception

Speaker

Lex Luthor

Actor

Gene Hackman

Source

Superman

Medium

Film

Genre

Superhero (film) Superhero

Language

English

Time

1978 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Superman: The Movie. Directed by Richard Donner, Dovemead Films, 1978.

What do we perceive besides our own ideas or sensations?

George Berkeley

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Topic

Perception Nature of reality

Author

George Berkeley

Source

Of the Principles of Human Knowledge

Medium

Treatise

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1710 1710s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Berkeley, George. A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge. Dublin: Jeremy Pepat, 1710, sect. 4.

Current Citation

Berkeley, George. A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, edited by Kenneth P. Winkler. Hackett Publishing Company, 1982, sect. 4.

Learning that color is a fiction of light is one of the primary shocks of growing up: that this hitherto deeply physical thing is just a reflection and that nothing can keep its color under the cover of darkness, are monstrous things to understand, even for my adult mind.

Tacita Dean

More information about this quote

Topic

Light and color Light Color Illusions Perception

Speaker

Tacita Dean

Source

Colour: Documents of Contemporary Art

Language

English

Time

21st century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Dean, Tacita. Colour: Documents of Contemporary Art, edited by David Batchelor. MIT Press, 2008, p. 235.