--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Experience is not a matter of having…" description: "\"Experience is not a matter of having actually swum the Hellespont, or danced with the dervishes, or slept in a doss-house. It is a matter of sensibilit..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd8/aldous-huxley-97_attention_experience-is-not-a-matter-of-having-act_1195244.jpg" --- # Experience is not a matter of having actually swum the… ![“Experience is not a matter of having actually swum the Hellespont, or danced with the dervishes, or slept in a doss-house. It is a matter of sensibility and intuition, of seeing, and hearing the significant thing, of paying attention at the right moments, of understanding and coordinating…” quote by Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd8/aldous-huxley-97_attention_experience-is-not-a-matter-of-having-act_1195244.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd8/aldous-huxley-97_attention_experience-is-not-a-matter-of-having-act_1195244.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd8/aldous-huxley-97_attention_experience-is-not-a-matter-of-having-act_1195244.jpg) > “Experience is not a matter of having actually swum the Hellespont, or danced with the dervishes, or slept in a doss-house. It is a matter of sensibility and intuition, of seeing, and hearing the significant thing, of paying attention at the right moments, of understanding and coordinating. Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.” [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Experience is shaped by perception and response, not merely by events; it requires keen awareness and thoughtful action. **In simple terms:** Experience depends on perception and response. Key Takeaway Cultivate awareness and act deliberately. Themes perception awareness action learning Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - creative work - personal growth - decision making Key Concepts intuition sensibility coordination Questions to Reflect On - How do you ensure you notice the significant moments? - What habits help you turn events into learning? A Different Perspective Experience can be limited by bias or distraction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Coordinating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coordinating/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Intuition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intuition/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Paying Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paying-attention/) [Right moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-moment/) [Sensibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensibility/) [Significant things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/significant-things/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) ## Related quotes > [“Experience is not what happens to you its what you do with what happens to you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/experience-is-not-what-happens-to-you-its-what-you-do-with-what/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/experience-is-not-what-happens-to-a-man-it-is-what-a-man-does-with-3/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him. It is a gift for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/experience-is-not-what-happens-to-a-man-it-is-what-a-man-does-with-2/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [You take the experience, and now it's a matter of preparing yourself mentally and physically so that in the future if you find yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aroldis-chapman/you-take-the-experience-and-now-it-s-a-matter-of-preparing-yourself/) [Aroldis Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aroldis-chapman/) > [The first essential in writing about anything is that the writer should have no experience of the matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isadora-duncan/the-first-essential-in-writing-about-anything-is-that-the-writer/) [Isadora Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isadora-duncan/) > [“There was always something to be learned from any experience, no matter how horrendous. As long as a man kept sight of that, his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/there-was-always-something-to-be-learned-from-any-experience-no/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“Every experience is a once in a lifetime experience, because no matter how hard we try, nothing's ever exactly the same as it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jolene-perry/every-experience-is-a-once-in-a-lifetime-experience-because-no-matter/) [Jolene Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jolene-perry/) > [I get things in my head every once in a while and decide I must experience them, no matter how ridiculous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonny-lee-miller/i-get-things-in-my-head-every-once-in-a-while-and-decide-i-must/) [Jonny Lee Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonny-lee-miller/) > [I know from experience that you should never give up on yourself or others, no matter what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-foreman/i-know-from-experience-that-you-should-never-give-up-on-yourself-or/) [George Foreman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-foreman/) > [“If you buy your experience it's your own. So it's no matter how much you pay for it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/if-you-buy-your-experience-it-s-your-own-so-it-s-no-matter-how-much/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [Every experience, no matter how bad it seems, holds within a blessing of some kind. The goal is to find it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-experience-no-matter-how-bad-it-seems-holds-within-a-blessing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everything we experience-no matter how unpleasant-comes into our lives to teach us something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iyanla-vanzant/everything-we-experience-no-matter-how-unpleasant-comes-into-our/) [Iyanla Vanzant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iyanla-vanzant/) > [“Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you o with what happens to you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huxley-aldous-2/experience-is-not-what-happens-to-you-it-s-what-you-o-with-what/) Huxley Aldous > [I do miss the excitement of seeing history up close, of having intimate knowledge, through direct experience, of what happens when people and governments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-do-miss-the-excitement-of-seeing-history-up-close-of-having/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Though 'Fire and Rain' is very personal, for other people it resonates as a sort of commonly held experience... And that's what happens with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-taylor/though-fire-and-rain-is-very-personal-for-other-people-it-resonates/) [James Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-taylor/) ## More by Aldous Huxley > [“Unorthodoxy threatens more than the life of a mere individual; it strikes at Society itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/unorthodoxy-threatens-more-than-the-life-of-a-mere-individual-it/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Man has an almost infinite capacity for taking things and people for granted and thereby missing out on the pleasure of being grateful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/man-has-an-almost-infinite-capacity-for-taking-things-and-people-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [My fate cannot be mastered; it can only be collaborated with and thereby, to some extent, directed. Nor am I the captain of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/my-fate-cannot-be-mastered-it-can-only-be-collaborated-with-and/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Impulse arrested spills over, and the flood is feeling, the flood is passion, the flood is even madness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/impulse-arrested-spills-over-and-the-flood-is-feeling-the-flood-is/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Of course the Dharma-body of the Buddha was the hedge at the bottom of the garden. At the same time, and no less obviously,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/of-course-the-dharma-body-of-the-buddha-was-the-hedge-at-the-bottom/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“The question for the man of sense is: Do we or do we not want to go to hell? And his answer is: No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-question-for-the-man-of-sense-is-do-we-or-do-we-not-want-to-go-to/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“I’ll MAKE you be free whether you want to or not.’ -The Savage”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/i-ll-make-you-be-free-whether-you-want-to-or-not-the-savage/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Thought of the incomprehensible sequence of changes and chances that make up a life, all the beauties and horrors and absurdities whose conjunctions create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/thought-of-the-incomprehensible-sequence-of-changes-and-chances-that/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [The third petition of the Lord's Prayer is repeated daily by millions who have not the slightest intention of letting anyone's will be done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-third-petition-of-the-lord-s-prayer-is-repeated-daily-by-millions/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Then what’s time for?” asked Lenina in some astonishment. Apparently, for going on walks in the Lake District; for that was what he now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/then-what-s-time-for-asked-lenina-in-some-astonishment-apparently-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [All right then," said the Savage defiantly, "I'm claiming the right to be unhappy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/all-right-then-said-the-savage-defiantly-i-m-claiming-the-right-to-be/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Speed, it seems to me, provides the one genuinely modern pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/speed-it-seems-to-me-provides-the-one-genuinely-modern-pleasure/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“What you need is a gramme of soma.” “All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/what-you-need-is-a-gramme-of-soma-all-the-advantages-of-christianity/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [To be enlightened is to be aware, always, of total reality in its immanent otherness - to be aware of it and yet remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/to-be-enlightened-is-to-be-aware-always-of-total-reality-in-its/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Quote of the day:Quote of the day: A democracy which makes or even effectively prepares for modern, scientific war must necessarily cease to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/quote-of-the-day-quote-of-the-day-a-democracy-which-makes-or-even/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) [Explore all 1,291 Aldous Huxley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) ## More Attention quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [People pay far too much attention to the television and they're quite literal in some ways. 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They are but improved means to an unimproved end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-inventions-are-wont-to-be-pretty-toys-which-distract-our/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [What people don't normally know about us is the hustle is very real, and it's sorely driven a lot by how we consider ourselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lzzy-hale/what-people-don-t-normally-know-about-us-is-the-hustle-is-very-real/) [Lzzy Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lzzy-hale/) > [For me, the term "psychotherapy" is limiting. It implies that we work with mind and emotions, but excludes the body and pays scant attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-diamond/for-me-the-term-psychotherapy-is-limiting-it-implies-that-we-work/) [Jed Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-diamond/) > [When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minor-white/when-you-approach-something-to-photograph-it-first-be-still-with/) [Minor White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minor-white/) > [I'm writing about real things. Real people. Real characters. You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/i-m-writing-about-real-things-real-people-real-characters-you-have-to/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) > [ I went to a mosque in Philadelphia with \[my wife\] in December 24, 1999. And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/i-went-to-a-mosque-in-philadelphia-with-my-wife-in-december-24-1999/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-harvard-business-review-recently-had-an-article-called-the-human/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [Let us thank God heartily as often as we pray that we have His Spirit in us to teach us to pray. 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