None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
I begin to see an object when I cease to understand it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Understanding can limit our perception of reality, while letting go of preconceptions allows us to truly see.
This quote by Henry David Thoreau suggests that our attempts to understand something can cloud our perception of it. When we cling too tightly to our interpretations and analyses, we may miss out on the true essence of the object or experience in question. By stepping back and removing our preconceived notions, we open ourselves to a more genuine comprehension of the world around us.
Themes
UnderstandingPerceptionRealityKnowledgePhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophical discussion about knowledge and perception, this quote can highlight the importance of humility in understanding.
More from Henry David Thoreau
All quotes βThrough want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling and spending their lives like servants.
Henry David ThoreauRead
An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Have no mean hours, but be grateful for every hour, and accept what it brings. The reality will make any sincere record respectable.
Henry David ThoreauRead
As every season seems best to us in its turn, so the coming in of spring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age.
Henry David ThoreauRead
That grand old poem called Winter
Henry David ThoreauRead
Similar quotes
To like an individual because he's black is just as insulting as to dislike him because he isn't white.
E. E. CummingsRead
Society is just a structure with no soul. The soul is of the individual. One individual outweighs all societies. And, one individual's revolution outweighs all revolutions in the whole of history, because one man can become the womb for God to be reborn.
RajneeshRead
The poor of the United States and of the world are your brothers and sisters in Christ. You must never be content to leave them just the crumbs from the feast. You must take of your substance, and not just of your abundance, in order to help them. And you must treat them like guests at your family table.
Pope John Paul IiRead
Order and reason, beauty and benevolence, are characteristics and conceptions which we find solely associated with the mind of man.
Karl PearsonRead
Human progress planned as alternatives (to God's plan) introduce in justice, evil and violence rising against the divine plan of justice and salvation. And despite transitory and apparent successes, they are reduced to simple machinations destined to dissolution and failure.
Pope John Paul IiRead
Whoever excommunicates me, excommunicates God.
Girolamo SavonarolaRead