--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is a special kind of enlightenment to…" description: "\"It is a special kind of enlightenment to have this feeling that the usual, the way things normally are, is odduncanny and highly improbable. G.K.Cheste..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cb/alan-watts-587_amazed_it-is-a-special-kind-of-enlightenment-to_2609640.jpg" --- # It is a special kind of enlightenment to have this feeling… ![“It is a special kind of enlightenment to have this feeling that the usual, the way things normally are, is odduncanny and highly improbable. G.K.Chesterton once said that it is one thing to be amazed at gorgon or a griffin, creatures which do not exist; but it is quite another and much higher…” quote by Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cb/alan-watts-587_amazed_it-is-a-special-kind-of-enlightenment-to_2609640.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cb/alan-watts-587_amazed_it-is-a-special-kind-of-enlightenment-to_2609640.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cb/alan-watts-587_amazed_it-is-a-special-kind-of-enlightenment-to_2609640.jpg) > “It is a special kind of enlightenment to have this feeling that the usual, the way things normally are, is odduncanny and highly improbable. G.K.Chesterton once said that it is one thing to be amazed at gorgon or a griffin, creatures which do not exist; but it is quite another and much higher thing to be amazed at a rhinoceros or a giraffe, creatures which do exist and look as if they don't. This feeling of universal oddity includes a basic and intense wondering about the sense of things.” [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. Recognizing the strangeness of everyday reality reveals deeper wonder than fantastical myths. **In simple terms:** Ordinary things can feel oddly extraordinary. Key Takeaway Cultivate curiosity about daily life. Themes philosophy perception wonder reality Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - walking in nature - observing routine - mindful meditation Key Concepts ordinary vs extraordinary existential reflection Questions to Reflect On - What everyday detail feels inexplicably odd? - How does this perception change your outlook? A Different Perspective Seeing the familiar as strange can be unsettling. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amazed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amazed/) [Amazed Gorgon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amazed-gorgon-2015980/) [Buddhism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/buddhism/) [Creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creatures/) [Creatures Exist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creatures-exist-1937799/) [Enlightenment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enlightenment/) [Enlightenment Feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enlightenment-feeling-2015981/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Giraffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giraffe/) [Higher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/higher/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Improbable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improbable/) [Intense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intense/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [Oddities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oddities/) [Oddity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oddity/) [One thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-thing/) [Rhinoceros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rhinoceros/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Special](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/special/) [Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Universal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universal/) [Universal Oddity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universal-oddity-2015979/) [Usual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/usual/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonder/) ## Related quotes > [“All Creatures exist for a purpose. Even an ant knows what that purpose is--not with its brain, but somehow it knows. Only human beings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fire-lame-deer-2/all-creatures-exist-for-a-purpose-even-an-ant-knows-what-that-purpose/) [John (Fire) Lame Deer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fire-lame-deer-2/) > [“Wolves, declared the document, like all other wildlife "have a right to exist in a wild state," one that "derives from the right of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-hampton/wolves-declared-the-document-like-all-other-wildlife-have-a-right-to/) [Bruce Hampton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-hampton/) > [“What's a feminist?" Julie asked. "Someone who thinks women are fish," Barton replied. He was smiling at Lily. "And that men are bicycles, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dianne-dixon/what-s-a-feminist-julie-asked-someone-who-thinks-women-are-fish/) [Dianne Dixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dianne-dixon/) > [It will not be humans who watch the sun's demise, six billion years from now. Any creatures that then exist will be as different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/it-will-not-be-humans-who-watch-the-sun-s-demise-six-billion-years/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [That intelligent creatures exist in outerspace is proven by the fact that they have not contacted us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loesje/that-intelligent-creatures-exist-in-outerspace-is-proven-by-the-fact/) [Loesje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loesje/) > [“When you make weirdness into a puzzle to be solved, you make LOST”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-fink/when-you-make-weirdness-into-a-puzzle-to-be-solved-you-make-lost/) [Joseph Fink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-fink/) > [“Now I know, you can’t change what’s happened to you or hide it, or spin it, or get over it. All you can do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-browning/now-i-know-you-can-t-change-what-s-happened-to-you-or-hide-it-or-spin/) [L.M. Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-browning/) > [“The enigma of stuttering is profound. For in a moment, you would sound very fluent, and at other times, you would struggle to utter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/the-enigma-of-stuttering-is-profound-for-in-a-moment-you-would-sound/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [“we are here confronted with an irreducible oddity about all human societies: all are strung around figments of the human imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-crone/we-are-here-confronted-with-an-irreducible-oddity-about-all-human/) [Patricia Crone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-crone/) > [“I don't know if there's a God. (And neither do you, and neither does Professor Dawkins, and neither does anybody. It isn't the kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-spufford/i-don-t-know-if-there-s-a-god-and-neither-do-you-and-neither-does/) [Francis Spufford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-spufford/) > [“Because of the unlimited potential packed within each person, attaining greatness should have been the norm, not an oddity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/assegid-habtewold/because-of-the-unlimited-potential-packed-within-each-person/) [Assegid Habtewold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/assegid-habtewold/) > [I'm an oddity of one, my strangeness too complicated to explain or share.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/i-m-an-oddity-of-one-my-strangeness-too-complicated-to-explain-or/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [ “If \[she\] had come to prefer the company of odd ducks, it was possibly because they had no conception of oddity, or rather, they… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/if-she-had-come-to-prefer-the-company-of-odd-ducks-it-was-possibly/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [“Everything in nature is beautiful in its place there will be an odd when you change its place.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamaran-ihsan-salih/everything-in-nature-is-beautiful-in-its-place-there-will-be-an-odd/) [Kamaran Ihsan Salih](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamaran-ihsan-salih/) > [“Oddity, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. What one person rejects as lunacy, another reveres as truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-gulley/oddity-like-beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-what-one-person/) [Philip Gulley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-gulley/) ## 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. It is like trying to clutch water in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-more-we-try-to-catch-hold-of-the-present-moment-the-more-elusive/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The Universe is the game of the self, which plays hide and seek forever and ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-universe-is-the-game-of-the-self-which-plays-hide-and-seek/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [If my happiness at this moment consists largely in reviewing happy memories and expectations, I am but dimly aware of this present. I shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/if-my-happiness-at-this-moment-consists-largely-in-reviewing-happy/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [...mysticism and empiricism go together in opposition to scholasticism...they base themselves on the non-linear world of experience rather than the linear world of letters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/mysticism-and-empiricism-go-together-in-opposition-to-scholasticism/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The hallucination of being a separate ego will not stand up to biological tests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-hallucination-of-being-a-separate-ego-will-not-stand-up-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/although-profoundly-inconsequential-the-zen-experience-has/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Everything is perpetually becoming new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/everything-is-perpetually-becoming-new/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The psychotherapist ... tries to help the individual to be himself and to go it alone without giving unnecessary offense to his community, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-psychotherapist-tries-to-help-the-individual-to-be-himself-and-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [“As you make more and more powerful microscopic instruments, the universe has to get smaller and smaller in order to escape the investigation. 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 Amazed quotes > [You will never cease to be the most amazed person on earth at what God has done for you on the inside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/you-will-never-cease-to-be-the-most-amazed-person-on-earth-at-what/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [You'd be amazed at pain and tears a single smile hides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-vasquez/you-d-be-amazed-at-pain-and-tears-a-single-smile-hides/) [Christian Vasquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-vasquez/) > [“I am amazed at how being with him changes everything for me, socially speaking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-hand/i-am-amazed-at-how-being-with-him-changes-everything-for-me-socially/) [Cynthia Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-hand/) > [I'm endlessly amazed by what people are capable of, and incapable of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dov-davidoff/i-m-endlessly-amazed-by-what-people-are-capable-of-and-incapable-of/) [Dov Davidoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dov-davidoff/) > [Souls love. That’s what souls do. Egos don’t, but souls do. Become a soul, look around, and you’ll be amazed-all the beings around you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/souls-love-that-s-what-souls-do-egos-don-t-but-souls-do-become-a-soul/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [Contrary to a common myth, while there are general guidelines, there is no exact 'right' way to run ... I am amazed by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grete-waitz/contrary-to-a-common-myth-while-there-are-general-guidelines-there-is/) [Grete Waitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grete-waitz/) > [I'm always amazed by writers who tell me they plan everything at the beginning. I feel their writing days must be very bland.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-tremain/i-m-always-amazed-by-writers-who-tell-me-they-plan-everything-at-the/) [Rose Tremain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-tremain/) > [What I am telling you is that you do not need to know to love, and it is right that you feel it all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/what-i-am-telling-you-is-that-you-do-not-need-to-know-to-love-and-it/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [My father was truly a great man. I remember one day putting my feet in my father's shoes. I was amazed at the size.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-b-wirthlin/my-father-was-truly-a-great-man-i-remember-one-day-putting-my-feet-in/) [Joseph B. Wirthlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-b-wirthlin/) > [J. Budziszewski is perhaps the clearest and most eloquent natural lawyer writing today. When reading his works I often find myself amazed by his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-j-beckwith/j-budziszewski-is-perhaps-the-clearest-and-most-eloquent-natural/) [Francis J. Beckwith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-j-beckwith/) > [I've never ceased to be amazed at the survival skills of poor children. I've learned how much children can actually do for themselves if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/landon-pearson/i-ve-never-ceased-to-be-amazed-at-the-survival-skills-of-poor/) [Landon Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/landon-pearson/) > [Mystical experiences (unlike scientific conclusions) cannot be communicated from one person to another. Philosophers and little children are continually amazed that we, unaccountably, find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/mystical-experiences-unlike-scientific-conclusions-cannot-be/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [As soon as I arrived I made an attempt to find my host but the two or three people of whom I asked his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/as-soon-as-i-arrived-i-made-an-attempt-to-find-my-host-but-the-two-or/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [I don't know why, but I'm continually amazed to think that two and a half billion of us around the world are connected to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-kovacs/i-don-t-know-why-but-i-m-continually-amazed-to-think-that-two-and-a/) [Gary Kovacs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-kovacs/) > [The key to contentment is to consider. Consider who you are and be satisfied with that. Consider what you have and be satisfied with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luci-swindoll/the-key-to-contentment-is-to-consider-consider-who-you-are-and-be/) [Luci Swindoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luci-swindoll/) [Browse all 776 Amazed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amazed/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is a special kind of enlightenment to have this feeling that the usual, the way things normally are, is odduncanny and highly improbable. G.K.Chesterton once said that it is one thing to be amazed at gorgon or a griffin, creatures which do not exist; but it is quite another and much higher thing to be amazed at a rhinoceros or a giraffe, creatures which do exist and look as if they don't. This feeling of universal oddity includes a basic and intense wondering about the sense of things.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alan Watts" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/it-is-a-special-kind-of-enlightenment-to-have-this-feeling-that-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Amazed" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/it-is-a-special-kind-of-enlightenment-to-have-this-feeling-that-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cb/alan-watts-587_amazed_it-is-a-special-kind-of-enlightenment-to_2609640.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cb/alan-watts-587_amazed_it-is-a-special-kind-of-enlightenment-to_2609640.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8cb/alan-watts-587_amazed_it-is-a-special-kind-of-enlightenment-to_2609640.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is a special kind of enlightenment to have this feeling that the usual, the way things normally are, is…” — 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": "It is a special kind of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/it-is-a-special-kind-of-enlightenment-to-have-this-feeling-that-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/it-is-a-special-kind-of-enlightenment-to-have-this-feeling-that-the/#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 } } ] } ```