--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Part of seeing what is on an ordinary…" description: "\"“Part of seeing what is on an ordinary block is seeing that everything visible has a history. It arrived at the spot where you found it at some time, w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45c/alexandra-horowitz-25911_history_part-of-seeing-what-is-on-an-ordinary-bl_820692.jpg" --- # Part of seeing what is on an ordinary block is seeing that… ![“Part of seeing what is on an ordinary block is seeing that everything visible has a history. It arrived at the spot where you found it at some time, was crafted or whittled or forged at some time, filled a certain role or existed for a particular function. It was touched by someone (or no one)…” quote by Alexandra Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45c/alexandra-horowitz-25911_history_part-of-seeing-what-is-on-an-ordinary-bl_820692.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45c/alexandra-horowitz-25911_history_part-of-seeing-what-is-on-an-ordinary-bl_820692.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45c/alexandra-horowitz-25911_history_part-of-seeing-what-is-on-an-ordinary-bl_820692.jpg) > ““Part of seeing what is on an ordinary block is seeing that everything visible has a history. It arrived at the spot where you found it at some time, was crafted or whittled or forged at some time, filled a certain role or existed for a particular function. It was touched by someone (or no one), and touches someone (or no one) now.”” [Alexandra Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-horowitz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. All objects carry a past; their material and function reveal histories and connections to people. **In simple terms:** Objects have histories and affect us. Key Takeaway Notice the stories behind everyday things. Themes history material culture connection Mood curious reflective Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - museum c - archaeology - everyday design - personal reflection Key Concepts archaeology anthropology design Questions to Reflect On - What story does this object tell? - How does its past shape its present? A Different Perspective Objects can be misinterpreted without context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Block Seeing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/block-seeing-471537/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Ordinary Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-block-471534/) [Seeing Ordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing-ordinary-471535/) [Seeing Visible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing-visible-471536/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Visible History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/visible-history-471533/) ## Related quotes > [Rome - the city of visible history, where the past of a whole hemisphere seems moving in funeral procession with strange ancestral images and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/rome-the-city-of-visible-history-where-the-past-of-a-whole-hemisphere/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Every army in the history of the world has always had some deserters, usually much greater than we have today, because once again every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-hilferty/every-army-in-the-history-of-the-world-has-always-had-some-deserters/) [Bryan Hilferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-hilferty/) > [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/) [C-DASH](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-dash/) > [Today is a reality, tomorrow's a promise, and yesterday's history!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-blanks/today-is-a-reality-tomorrow-s-a-promise-and-yesterday-s-history/) [Billy Blanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-blanks/) > [We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-re-at-a-point-in-history-were-we-have-to-become-a-part-of-the/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [History is a certain way, but you just change the point of view a little bit, and you discover a whole new side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-schroeder/history-is-a-certain-way-but-you-just-change-the-point-of-view-a/) [Allison Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-schroeder/) > [Things live and die, and then someone processes them into edible portions. This is a complete telling of the story, 'Food.' The basic plot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fahrenthold/things-live-and-die-and-then-someone-processes-them-into-edible/) [David Fahrenthold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fahrenthold/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [History has often showed us the strength of the forces that are unleashed by the yearning for freedom. 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A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) ## More by Alexandra Horowitz > [“By standard intelligence texts, the dogs have failed at the puzzle. I believe, by contrast that they have succeeded magnificently. They have applied a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-horowitz/by-standard-intelligence-texts-the-dogs-have-failed-at-the-puzzle-i/) [Alexandra Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-horowitz/) > [“Those canids such as foxes, who do not live in a social group, appear to have a much more limited range of things to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-horowitz/those-canids-such-as-foxes-who-do-not-live-in-a-social-group-appear/) [Alexandra Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-horowitz/) > [“in training a dog you must reward only those behaviors you desire the dog to repeat endlessly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-horowitz/in-training-a-dog-you-must-reward-only-those-behaviors-you-desire-the/) [Alexandra Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-horowitz/) > [“Wasser’s (conservation detection) dogs are young mixed-breeds from shelters because that's where dogs with excessive energy and borderline-obsessive personalities wind up. 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Other research has supported the odd and disturbing result that companion dogs are not only not using their smelling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-horowitz/dogs-are-losing-their-noses-other-research-has-supported-the-odd-and/) [Alexandra Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-horowitz/) > [“We get distracted, have bad days, and grow sleepy; a working dog does, too. The dogs are being only human here.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-horowitz/we-get-distracted-have-bad-days-and-grow-sleepy-a-working-dog-does/) [Alexandra Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-horowitz/) > [“Do not sag with exhaustion. There is no mandate; only opportunity. Our culture fosters inattention; we are all creatures of that culture. But by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-horowitz/do-not-sag-with-exhaustion-there-is-no-mandate-only-opportunity-our/) [Alexandra Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-horowitz/) > [“Dogs also have a higher flicker-fusion rate than humans do: seventy or even eighty cycles per second. This provides an indication why dogs have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-horowitz/dogs-also-have-a-higher-flicker-fusion-rate-than-humans-do-seventy-or/) [Alexandra Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-horowitz/) > [“Even the objects in a room are not, in some sense, the same objects to another animal. A dog looking around a room does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-horowitz/even-the-objects-in-a-room-are-not-in-some-sense-the-same-objects-to/) [Alexandra Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-horowitz/) [Explore all 22 Alexandra Horowitz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-horowitz/) ## More History quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [In the entire history of the universe, let alone in your own history, there has never been another day just like today, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/in-the-entire-history-of-the-universe-let-alone-in-your-own-history/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [The NBA is my history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-hardaway/the-nba-is-my-history/) [Penny Hardaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-hardaway/) > [History has often showed us the strength of the forces that are unleashed by the yearning for freedom. It moved people to overcome their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/history-has-often-showed-us-the-strength-of-the-forces-that-are/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Things live and die, and then someone processes them into edible portions. This is a complete telling of the story, 'Food.' The basic plot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fahrenthold/things-live-and-die-and-then-someone-processes-them-into-edible/) [David Fahrenthold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fahrenthold/) > [History is a certain way, but you just change the point of view a little bit, and you discover a whole new side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-schroeder/history-is-a-certain-way-but-you-just-change-the-point-of-view-a/) [Allison Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-schroeder/) > [We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-re-at-a-point-in-history-were-we-have-to-become-a-part-of-the/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [Today is a reality, tomorrow's a promise, and yesterday's history!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-blanks/today-is-a-reality-tomorrow-s-a-promise-and-yesterday-s-history/) [Billy Blanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-blanks/) > [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/) [C-DASH](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-dash/) > [Every army in the history of the world has always had some deserters, usually much greater than we have today, because once again every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-hilferty/every-army-in-the-history-of-the-world-has-always-had-some-deserters/) [Bryan Hilferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-hilferty/) > [“To those great geniuses now in petticoats, who shall write novels for the beloved reader's children, these men and things will be as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/to-those-great-geniuses-now-in-petticoats-who-shall-write-novels-for/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) [Browse all 27,263 History quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Part of seeing what is on an ordinary block is seeing that everything visible has a history. 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