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In order to see, you have to stop being in the middle of the picture
Sri Aurobindo
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Understanding requires perspective and detachment from one's immediate situation.

This quote by Sri Aurobindo emphasizes the importance of stepping back and gaining a broader perspective in order to truly understand a situation. Often, when we are too close to a problem or immersed in our own experiences, we struggle to see the bigger picture and make clear judgments. By distancing ourselves from our immediate surroundings, we can gain clarity and insight into what is really happening.

Themes

PerspectiveUnderstandingDetachmentClarityInsight

In practice

Example use cases

During a team meeting, you might use this quote to encourage colleagues to consider the bigger picture rather than just their individual viewpoints.

More from Sri Aurobindo

Life is life - whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man's own advantage.
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To listen to some devout people, one would imagine that God never laughs.
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Indian religion has always felt that since the minds, the temperaments and the intellectual affinities of men are unlimited in their variety, a perfect liberty of thought and of worship must be allowed to the individual in his approach to the Infinite.
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Be conscious first of thyself within, then think and act. All living thought is a world in preparation; all real act is a thought manifested. The material world exists because an idea began to play in divine self–consciousness.
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Evolution is not finished; reason is not the last word nor the reasoning animal the supreme figure of Nature. As man emerged out of the animal, so out of man the superman emerges.
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Impossibility is only a sum of greater unrealised possibles. It veils an advanced stage and a yet unaccomplished journey.
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