#perception

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

#perception #marriage

I brought a picture with me that I had at home, of a girl in a swing with a castle and pretty blue bubbles in the background, to hang in my room, but that nurse here said the girl was naked from the waist up and not appropriate. You know, I've had that picture for fifty years and I never knew she was naked. If you ask me, I don't think the old men they've got here can see well enough to notice that she's bare-breasted. But, this is a Methodist home, so she's in the closet with my gallstones. ↗

— Fannie Flagg

#perception #home

This is a perfectly good picture. And if I didn't know you, I would be impressed and charmed. But I do know you." He thought some more, wondering whether he dared say precisely what he felt, for he knew he could never explain exactly why the idea came to him. "It's the painting of a dutiful daughter," he said eventually, looking at her cautiously to see her reaction. "You want to please. You are always aware of what the person looking at this picture will think of it. Because of that you've missed something important. Does that make sense?" She thought, then nodded. "All right," she said grudgingly and with just a touch of despair in her voice. "You win." Julien grunted. "Have another go, then. I shall come back and come back until you figure it out." "And you'll know?" "You'll know. I will merely get the benefit of it. ↗

— Iain Pears

#creativity #daughters #duty #expectation #fulfillment

What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are. ↗

— C.S. Lewis

#person

Humans see what they want to see. ↗

— Rick Riordan

#humans #mankind #perception #self-delusion #willful-ignorance

All things are subject to interpretation. Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth. ↗

— Friedrich Nietzsche

#perception

It's all in the mind. ↗