--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But we try to pretend, you see, that the…" description: "\"But we try to pretend, you see, that the external world exists altogether independently of us.\" — Alan Watts" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/alan-watts-587_world_but-we-try-to-pretend-you-see-that-the-e_1693447.jpg" --- # But we try to pretend, you see, that the external world… ![“But we try to pretend, you see, that the external world exists altogether independently of us.” quote by Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/alan-watts-587_world_but-we-try-to-pretend-you-see-that-the-e_1693447.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/alan-watts-587_world_but-we-try-to-pretend-you-see-that-the-e_1693447.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/alan-watts-587_world_but-we-try-to-pretend-you-see-that-the-e_1693447.jpg) > “But we try to pretend, you see, that the external world exists altogether independently of us.” [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We often act as if the world exists separate from our perception, ignoring our role in shaping experience. **In simple terms:** We pretend the world is independent of us. Key Takeaway Recognize your influence on reality. Themes perception philosophy ego reality Mood contemplative thoughtful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - daily decision-making - creative work - mindfulness practice Key Concepts Phenomenology subjectivity constructivism Questions to Reflect On - How does your perception shape your reality? - What would change if you saw the world as co‑created? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on external factors can ignore internal responsibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Altogether Independently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/altogether-independently-1078107/) [Exists Altogether](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exists-altogether-1078106/) [External world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/external-world/) [Independently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/independently/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World Exists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-exists/) ## Related quotes > [If we want justice for minorities and cooled wars with our natural enemies, whether human or non-human, we must first come to terms with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/if-we-want-justice-for-minorities-and-cooled-wars-with-our-natural/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Each person carries an entire world within himself, and everything exists twice: once the way it is, the other the way he perceives it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janusz-korczak/each-person-carries-an-entire-world-within-himself-and-everything/) [Janusz Korczak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janusz-korczak/) > [... the daily world exists because we know how to hold its images; consequently, if one drops the attention needed to maintain those images,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/the-daily-world-exists-because-we-know-how-to-hold-its-images/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [The benefit of having a story that takes place in the real world is that you don't have to invent the real world. 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I must inhale the air they breathe--share their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hideo-kojima/another-world-exists-that-i-must-experience-a-genus-of-people-exists/) [Hideo Kojima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hideo-kojima/) ## More by Alan Watts > [“The self-conscious feedback mechanism of the cortex allows us the hallucination that we are two souls in one body -a rational soul and an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-self-conscious-feedback-mechanism-of-the-cortex-allows-us-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The more we try to catch hold of the present moment the more elusive it becomes. 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Just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/as-you-make-more-and-more-powerful-microscopic-instruments-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [We are at the moment looking at space as something to be entered by the tremendous thrust of a rocket because that is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/we-are-at-the-moment-looking-at-space-as-something-to-be-entered-by/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [A philosopher is a sort of intellectual yokel who gawks at things that sensible people take for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/a-philosopher-is-a-sort-of-intellectual-yokel-who-gawks-at-things/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The best way to convince someone is by making him realize that what you speak came from his own mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-best-way-to-convince-someone-is-by-making-him-realize-that-what/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The myths underlying our culture and underlying our common sense have not taught us to feel identical with the universe, but only parts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-myths-underlying-our-culture-and-underlying-our-common-sense-have/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [To feel that life is meaningless unless “I” can be permanent is like having fallen desperately in love with an inch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/to-feel-that-life-is-meaningless-unless-i-can-be-permanent-is-like/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) [Explore all 460 Alan Watts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## More External world quotes > [The drive for progress doesn't wait for the external world to say "It's time to change."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-c-collins/the-drive-for-progress-doesn-t-wait-for-the-external-world-to-say-it/) [James C. 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In the internal world, each thought is trying to go beyond control. Again each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/each-atom-is-trying-to-fly-off-from-its-centre-in-the-internal-world/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“On first looking upon the external world, man pictured it to himself as a sort of confused republic, where rival forces made war upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/on-first-looking-upon-the-external-world-man-pictured-it-to-himself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It will remain remarkable, in whatever way our future concepts may develop, that the very study of the external world led to the scientific…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-aspect/it-will-remain-remarkable-in-whatever-way-our-future-concepts-may/) [Alain Aspect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-aspect/) > [In other words, knowledge of the external world begins with an immediate utilisation of things, whereas knowledge of self is stopped by this purely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/in-other-words-knowledge-of-the-external-world-begins-with-an/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [No one can help us to achieve the intimate isolation by which we find our secret worlds, so mysterious, rich and full. If others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/no-one-can-help-us-to-achieve-the-intimate-isolation-by-which-we-find/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [“When it is imperative to make a vivid offering towards life then a simulated introspection for all possible dimensions may be endured to establish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-gupta/when-it-is-imperative-to-make-a-vivid-offering-towards-life-then-a/) [Amit Gupta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-gupta/) > [As science went further and further into the external world, they ended up inside the atom where to their surprise they saw consciousness staring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-gomatam/as-science-went-further-and-further-into-the-external-world-they/) [Ravi Gomatam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-gomatam/) > [“What is experienced from within cannot be categorized in concepts that have been developed for the external world of the senses.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-dilthey/what-is-experienced-from-within-cannot-be-categorized-in-concepts/) [Wilhelm Dilthey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-dilthey/) > [The biggest (and hardest) lesson I've learned in life is that the external world is just a reflection of the world within.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hsieh/the-biggest-and-hardest-lesson-i-ve-learned-in-life-is-that-the/) [Tony Hsieh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hsieh/) [Browse all 60 External world quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/external-world/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But we try to pretend, you see, that the external world exists altogether independently of us.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alan Watts" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/but-we-try-to-pretend-you-see-that-the-external-world-exists/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "External world" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/but-we-try-to-pretend-you-see-that-the-external-world-exists/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/alan-watts-587_world_but-we-try-to-pretend-you-see-that-the-e_1693447.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/alan-watts-587_world_but-we-try-to-pretend-you-see-that-the-e_1693447.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/alan-watts-587_world_but-we-try-to-pretend-you-see-that-the-e_1693447.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But we try to pretend, you see, that the external world exists altogether independently of us.” — Alan Watts", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alan Watts", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "But we try to pretend, you...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/but-we-try-to-pretend-you-see-that-the-external-world-exists/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/but-we-try-to-pretend-you-see-that-the-external-world-exists/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```