Reality is a very subjective affair. I can only define it…
““Reality is a very subjective affair. I can only define it as a kind of gradual accumulation of information; and as specialization. If we take a lily, for instance, or any other kind of natural object, a lily is more real to a naturalist than it is to an ordinary person. But it is still more real to a botanist. And yet another stage of reality is reached with that botanist who is a specialist in lilies. You can get nearer and nearer, so to speak, to reality; but you never get near enough because reality is an infinite succession of steps, levels of perception, false bottoms, and hence unquenchable, unattainable. You can know more and more about one thing but you can never know everything about one thing: it’s hopeless. So that we live surrounded by more or less ghostly objects— that machine, there, for instance. It’s a complete ghost to me— I don’t understand a thing about it and, well, it’s a mystery to me, as much of a mystery as it would be to Lord Byron.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Reality is layered and never fully graspable; each specialization reveals more detail but also new limits, making absolute knowledge impossible.
In simple terms: Reality is endless and partially known.
Key Takeaway
Accept that knowledge is always incomplete.
Themes
knowledge
perception
science
Mood
curious
skeptical
Type
philosophical
inquisitive
When to use this quote
- research
- education
- artistic creation
Key Concepts
epistemology
philosophy
Questions to Reflect On
- How does focusing deeply on one field affect your view of other domains?
- Can you ever truly know a subject completely?
A Different Perspective
Specialization can blind us to broader perspectives, limiting holistic understanding.