Quotes About Perception

You don't mean to say that Hogan has turned into a woman? Why, yes, that's him all right, you can recognize him by the fact that he has two legs, two arms, and an indecipherable face. Man, woman, what difference does it make? Are they not all exactly the same, these little black insects with their rhythmic movements, the same eyes, the same thoughts?

La mémoire d'un enfant exagère les distances et les hauteurs.

My business is to paint what I see, not what I know is there.

When stress becomes a habit mentally, emotionally, and physically, a default setting on our inner dial, then it becomes "normal" and we no longer notice its presence. But the stress is still there, and it affects how we perceive, feel, and react to events in our lives. And stress is the major cause of anxiety.

Here's a simple definition of knowledge: It is to represent reality in thought or experience the way it really is on the basis of adequate grounds.

1. Knowledge by acquaintance.

Knowledge by acquaintance is sometimes called "simple seeing," being directly aware of something.

The important thing to note is that we humans have the power to "see," to be directly aware of, to directly experience a wide range of things, many of which are not subject to sensory awareness with the five senses.

Knowledge by acquaintance gives us direct access to reality as it is in itself, and we actually know this to be the case in our daily lives.

The more you know about something, the more you're able to see when you look at it, the more you can remember about it, and the less tied you will be to following a mindless series of steps in working with what you know.

Furthermore, our initial perception of God is largely formed by our interaction with our parents and other early caregivers. As children, to be safe, we developed ways of coping with our imperfect parents. And due to these varied challenging experiences in our childhood, perhaps some of us may wonder how safe God really is.

Religion is now viewed by many as a placebo or emotional crutch precisely because that is how we often pitch the gospel to unbelievers.

For many secularists, knowledge is obtained solely by means of the senses and science. Something is true and reasonable to believe to the degree that it can be tested by the five senses — it can be seen, heard, touched, tasted, or felt. Seeing is believing. Likewise, knowledge is identical to scientific knowledge. If you can prove something scientifically, then it is culturally permissible or even obligatory to believe it.

Love is a telescope: hatred is a microscope.

Did you know Socrates said we love whatever we lack? Or think we lack? Socrates? If you feel stupid, you'll fall for someone brainy. If you feel ugly, you'll flip your lid for someone who's easy on the eyes.

Though on dry land Joey D seemed as if he were on the verge of a nervous breakdown, at sea he was an expert relaxer. On cue he could release all the tension in his muscles and bob along like a jellyfish—a 260-pound Irish jellyfish. I watched his face as he floated, a mask of pure serenity I'd never witnessed on any man. Then his face became still more serene, and I realized that he must be peeing.

At my high school I felt like Einstein—now I realize why. Half the kids were stupid and the other half were stoned. At Yale I'm the stupid one. And the stupider I feel the less I go to class, which makes me fall more behind, which makes me feel stupider.

So long as you drank publicly, not secretly, you weren't a drunk.

Beber en casa era de alcohólicos. Siempre que uno bebiera públicamente, sin ocultarse, no era un borracho. Y de ahí los bares. Muchos, muchos bares.

Also, Willie, I dig telling the truth. Words can be twisted but a photo never lies. Sutton laughs. What's funny? Photographer says. Nothing. Except—that's pure horseshit kid. I can't think of anything that lies more than a photo. In fact every photo is a dirty stinking lie because it's a frozen moment—and time can't be frozen. Some of the biggest lies I've ever run across have been photos. Some of them were of me.

And this, our life exempt from public haunts, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.

Not all things that cast man shadows were men.

In my own case, I employed this experiment mainly in order to seek for the barrier, if any, which divides our knowledge of the past from our knowledge of the future. And the odd thing was that there did not seem to be any such barrier at all.

No, there was nothing unusual in any of these dreams as dreams. They were merely displaced in Time.