Perception Quotes
More Perception Quotes
Natural thunder heralds the wetness of fresh water high clouds to quench the thirst of fields gone dry and parched, a messenger of blessed rain, but this was as dry as hell must be. My distraught perception refused to believe it, because of the insane suddenness with which it sounded, swelled and hit, and how casually it came to murder my child.
anna akhmatova— "The First Long Range Artillery Fire On Leningrad," translated by Daniela Gioseffi (1993)
The widespread inability to understand technological artifacts as fabricated entities, as social and cultural phenomena, derives from the fact that in retrospect only those technologies that prove functional for a culture and can be integrated into everyday life are 'left over.' However, the perception of what is functional, successful and useful is itself the product of social and cultural--and last but not least--political and economic processes. Selection processes and abandoned products and product forms are usually not discussed.
johannes grenzfurthner— Interview with Furtherfield
The basis for the Bharat Natyam technique is the perception of the human body as a geometric ideal both in its static position (pictured as the straight axis around which a circle could be drawn) and its articulation through the dance (which explores all the harmonious geometric shapes possible from the central axis within the circle).
Shobana Jeyasingh— In The Routledge Dance Studies Reader, edited by Alexandra Carter and Janet O'Shea; Chapter 17: "Getting Off the Orient Express" (1998, p. 184).
selected by Nanobug 2004 If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is: Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern. ~ William Blake
— used 9 February 2004, selected by Moby
It is fascinating what people achieve when their perception of what is possible alters.
richard branson
In England we have come to rely upon a comfortable time-lag of fifty years or a century intervening between the perception that something ought to be done and a serious attempt to do it.
— 1931TheWork,Wealth and Happiness of Mankind, ch.2.
It isn't what he says that counts as a work of art, it's what he makes with such intensity of perception that it lives with an intrinsic movement of its very own to verify the authenticity.
william carlos williams— Of the poet. Quoted by Richard Eberhart in the NewYorkTimes, 17 Dec1950.
"I'm a little concerned about this notion everybody wants us to be objective," Jennings said.Jennings said that everyone — even journalists — have points of view through which they filter their perception of the news. It could be race, sex or income. But, he said, reporters are ideally trained to be as objective as possible."And when we don't think we can be fully objective, to be fair."
peter jennings— Interview for KETV NewsWatch 7 as quoted in article at The Omaha Channel (19 October 2004)
A living body is not merely an integration of limbs and flesh but it is the abode of the soul which potentially has perfect perception (Anant-darshana), perfect knowledge (Anant-jnana), perfect power (Anant-virya), and perfect bliss (Anant-sukha).
mahavira— As quoted in Jainism and Indian Civilization (2004) by Raj Pruthi, p. 24
I was now at a university in New York, a professor of existential psychology with the not inconsiderable thesis that magic, dread, and the perception of death were the roots of motivation.
norman mailer— Stephen Rojack, in Ch. 1
Although age has its normal limits, it may be extended by two things-the study of history and by travel. Reading history broadens one's perception of the creation of the world, while travel extends one's field of vision.
mahmud tarzi— Preface
The perception of beauty is a moral test.
Henry David Thoreau— June 21, 1852
Form - as a pattern of perception - can motivate the use of architecture. Architecture provides a complete service for its users, if function (practical purpose) coincides with use motivated by form. (Mit der Gestalt als Wahrnehmungsstruktur lässt sich der Gebrauch einer Architektur motivieren. Wenn die Funktion (der praktische Zweck) mit der (gestaltbezogenen) Motivation zum Gebrauch übereinstimmt, ist die Dienstleistung der Architektur für den Menschen komplett.)
justus dahinden— Justus Dahinden Man and Space - Mensch und Raum (Krämer Publ. 2005), ISBN 3-7828-1614-5
Humour very often consists of shrewd perceptions about people. It's usually fun at someone's expense. Nowadays if you're funny at anybody's expense they run to the UN and say, "I must have an ombudsman to protect me." You hardly dare have a shrewd perception about anybody.
Robertson Davies— "World of Wonders"
(Asked by John King about the political climate that existed in Washington at the time, and criticism of the Department of Justice under his management) Listen I don't expect an apology from men like Chuck Schumer, and I would put him and other individuals who were attacking me at the top of the list contributing to the low, low public perception of Congress, the integrity of Congress quite frankly.
alberto gonzales— [2] July 23, 2010
The encompassing, creative mind recognizes no boundaries. The mind has ever brought new spheres under its control. All our experiences culminate in the perception of the universe as a whole, with man as its center.
hans hofmann— "Excerpts from the Teaching of Hans Hofmann", p. 61
The fear you feel is a direct reflection of the perception you have of yourself.
steve maraboli— p. 140 (Life, the Truth, and Being Free (2010))
Constantly regard the universe as one living being, having one substance and one soul; and observe how all things have reference to one perception, the perception of this one living being; and how all things act with one movement; and how all things are the cooperating causes of all things which exist; observe too the continuous spinning of the thread and the contexture of the web.
marcus aurelius— IV, 40. (Book IV)
In England we have come to rely upon a comfortable time lag of fifty years or a century intervening between the perception that something ought to be done and a serious attempt to do it.
— The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind, Ch. 11 (1931)
The characteristic of the really great writer is the ability of his mind to to suddenly leap beyond his ordinary human values, into sudden perception of universal values.
colin wilson— p. 33 (Poetry and Mysticism (1969))
We are still spellbound by a tradition that arranged psychological faculties hierarchically, relegating ‘sensuousness’ that is, perception to a lower position in comparison to higher, reflective functions of reason and understanding. The most advanced versions of ‘conceptual art’ still follow this tradition. By refusing to base themselves in sensuously perceptible distinctions between works of art and other objects, these works seek to avoid reducing art to the realm of sense perception.
— Niklas Luhmann, Eva M. Knodt (trans.) (2000) Art As a Social System Stanford University Press, p.5
A perception, sudden as blinking, that subject and object are one, will lead to a deeply mysterious understanding; and by this understanding you will awaken to the truth.
— The Wan Ling Record of Xiu Pei, quoted in Why Lazarus Laughed : The Essential Doctrine, Zen — Advaita — Tantra (2003) by Wei Wu Wei
As to the most prudent logicians might venture to deduce from a skein of wool the probable existence of a sheep; so you, from the raw stuff of perception, may venture to deduce a universe which transcends the reproductive powers of your loom.
— Evelyn Underhill (1914) Practical Mysticism. Chapter II, The World Of Reality, p. 38
Perhaps the most concise summary of enlightenment would be: transcending dualism. … Dualism is the conceptual division of the world into categories … human perception is by nature a dualistic phenomenon which makes the quest for enlightenment an uphill struggle, to say the least.
— Douglas Hofstadter (1979) Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid Chapter 9: "Mumon and Gödel"
Systems philosophy brings forth a reorganization of ways of thinking. It creates a new worldview, a new paradigm of perception and explanation, which is manifested in integration, holistic thinking, purpose-seeking, mutual causality, and process-focused inquiry.
— Béla H. Bánáthy (1991) Systems design of education. p. 31-32
Unlike the physicist, the psychologist ... investigates processes that belong to the same order perception, learning, thinking as those by which he conducts his investigation.
— Morris R. Cohen, Reason and Nature (1953), p. 81
What seems certain is that Pythagoras developed the idea of mathematical logic... He realized that numbers exist independently of the tangible world and therefore their study was untainted by inaccuracies of perception. This meant he could discover truths which were independent of opinion of prejudice and which were more absolute then any previous knowledge.
simon singh— Simon Singh, Fermat's Last Theorem (1997)
I think daughters can change the perception of their fathers.
— Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure.
John C. Maxwell— The Leadership Handbook: 26 Critical Lessons Every Leader Needs (2015)
