--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have this exercise where I force myself…" description: "\"I have this exercise where I force myself to look out from the flower's point of view at these great walloping humans coming down the path, and try, ju..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/alice-oswald-15385_because_i-have-this-exercise-where-i-force-mysel_1712595.jpg" --- # I have this exercise where I force myself to look out from… ![“I have this exercise where I force myself to look out from the flower's point of view at these great walloping humans coming down the path, and try, just try and feel it from their point of view because it's a different world to them, a fascinating hard one.” quote by Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/alice-oswald-15385_because_i-have-this-exercise-where-i-force-mysel_1712595.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/alice-oswald-15385_because_i-have-this-exercise-where-i-force-mysel_1712595.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e0/alice-oswald-15385_because_i-have-this-exercise-where-i-force-mysel_1712595.jpg) > “I have this exercise where I force myself to look out from the flower's point of view at these great walloping humans coming down the path, and try, just try and feel it from their point of view because it's a different world to them, a fascinating hard one.” [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Adopt another’s perspective to understand their struggles, fostering compassion. **In simple terms:** See from others’ view. Key Takeaway Practice empathy daily. Themes empathy perspective compassion Mood thoughtful hopeful Type inspirational psychological When to use this quote - conflict resolution - teamwork - customer service - parenting Key Concepts Psychology human relations Questions to Reflect On - How can you practice this in a heated argument? - What barriers hinder true empathy? A Different Perspective Perspective shift can be limited by personal bias. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Exercise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exercise/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Gardening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gardening/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Path](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/path/) [Point of view](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/point-of-view/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Look into a flower and you see the whole cosmos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/look-into-a-flower-and-you-see-the-whole-cosmos/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [“Sometimes it's hard to look at a flower, when your dying inside.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/sometimes-it-s-hard-to-look-at-a-flower-when-your-dying-inside/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [If you would attain to your highest, go look upon a flower;what the flower does willessly, that do willingly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/if-you-would-attain-to-your-highest-go-look-upon-a-flower-what-the/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [Can you look at a flower without thinking?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/can-you-look-at-a-flower-without-thinking/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [“Like a flower pressed flat and dried, we try to hold it still and say, this is exactly how it was the day I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/like-a-flower-pressed-flat-and-dried-we-try-to-hold-it-still-and-say/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/when-you-take-a-flower-in-your-hand-and-really-look-at-it-it-s-your/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [“People give flowers as presents because flowers contain the true meaning of love. Anyone tries to possess a flower will have to watch its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/people-give-flowers-as-presents-because-flowers-contain-the-true-2/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [So I just try to be me and feel the songs and feel the energy of the band with me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-gutt/so-i-just-try-to-be-me-and-feel-the-songs-and-feel-the-energy-of-the/) [Jeff Gutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-gutt/) > [What are you gonna fill your life up with when you don't have that ultimate satisfaction or peace in your life? You try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dion-dimucci/what-are-you-gonna-fill-your-life-up-with-when-you-don-t-have-that/) [Dion DiMucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dion-dimucci/) > [“No matter what, no matter how hard we try…why do I feel like I’m going to lose you?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brittainy-c-cherry/no-matter-what-no-matter-how-hard-we-try-why-do-i-feel-like-i-m-going/) [Brittainy C. Cherry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brittainy-c-cherry/) > [If the script's good, everything you need is in there. I just try and feel it, and do it honestly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-colman/if-the-script-s-good-everything-you-need-is-in-there-i-just-try-and/) [Olivia Colman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-colman/) > [Never say goodbye when you still want to try. Never give up when you still feel you can take it. Never say you dont…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-say-goodbye-when-you-still-want-to-try-never-give-up-when-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I try and feel good, and the only way to do it is to see myself in the mirror and to know that I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sushmita-sen/i-try-and-feel-good-and-the-only-way-to-do-it-is-to-see-myself-in-the/) [Sushmita Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sushmita-sen/) > [I don't wanna stand beside you. I don't wanna try and feel the pain you're going through, Till the death you'll see this through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bullet-for-my-valentine/i-don-t-wanna-stand-beside-you-i-don-t-wanna-try-and-feel-the-pain/) [Bullet For My Valentine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bullet-for-my-valentine/) > [“Our sex is fierce. We will both be bruised. "I want it to always be like this," I tell him. "Try holding onto that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/our-sex-is-fierce-we-will-both-be-bruised-i-want-it-to-always-be-like/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) ## More by Alice Oswald > [There's a whole range of words that people use about landscape. Pastoral? Idyll? I can't stand them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/there-s-a-whole-range-of-words-that-people-use-about-landscape/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [It's a question of trying to take down by dictation what's already there. I'm not making something, I'm trying to hear it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/it-s-a-question-of-trying-to-take-down-by-dictation-what-s-already/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [I think it is the easiest mentality for a human being to be either colonized or to colonize. The structure of either the slave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/i-think-it-is-the-easiest-mentality-for-a-human-being-to-be-either/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [Wind ought to be a verb or an adverb. It isn't really anything. It's a manner of movement of warmth and cold: a kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/wind-ought-to-be-a-verb-or-an-adverb-it-isn-t-really-anything-it-s-a/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [People are so used to reading novels now, they just read a poem straight through to get the meaning. And that's something totally different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/people-are-so-used-to-reading-novels-now-they-just-read-a-poem/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [Topsoil is a place of digestion. It sucks and chews things into smaller pieces. When it's hungry, it turns grey and stony; when it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/topsoil-is-a-place-of-digestion-it-sucks-and-chews-things-into/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [Stripped of its plot, the 'Iliad' is a scattering of names and biographies of ordinary soldiers: men who trip over their shields, lose their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/stripped-of-its-plot-the-iliad-is-a-scattering-of-names-and/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [I like Patti Smith's lyrics, and sometimes think I could be influenced by them. But she has a kind of cool that's beyond me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/i-like-patti-smith-s-lyrics-and-sometimes-think-i-could-be-influenced/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [At each moment, a poem might grow into a totally different shape. It is not so much like working in a garden. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/at-each-moment-a-poem-might-grow-into-a-totally-different-shape-it-is/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [If you put a real leaf and a silk leaf side by side, youll see something of the difference between Homers poetry and anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/if-you-put-a-real-leaf-and-a-silk-leaf-side-by-side-youll-see/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [I think it's often assumed that the role of poetry is to comfort, but for me, poetry is the great unsettler. It questions the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/i-think-it-s-often-assumed-that-the-role-of-poetry-is-to-comfort-but/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [A living tree is a changing, sleeve shape, a wet, thin, bright green creature that survives in the thin layer between heartwood and bark.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/a-living-tree-is-a-changing-sleeve-shape-a-wet-thin-bright-green/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [I stood looking down through the beech trees. When I threw a stone I could count to five before the splash. Then I jumped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/i-stood-looking-down-through-the-beech-trees-when-i-threw-a-stone-i/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [Webs are made mostly of spaces. They break easily. They barely exist. They belong to the category of half-things: mist, smoke, shrouds, ghosts, membranes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/webs-are-made-mostly-of-spaces-they-break-easily-they-barely-exist/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [If you put a real leaf and a silk leaf side by side, you'll see something of the difference between Homer's poetry and anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/if-you-put-a-real-leaf-and-a-silk-leaf-side-by-side-you-ll-see/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) [Explore all 43 Alice Oswald quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) ## More Because quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [I gave my archive to Emory University because there's a really dear friend who teaches there, Rudolph Byrd, and he's the editor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/i-gave-my-archive-to-emory-university-because-there-s-a-really-dear/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [I love casting against type and doing things you wouldn't expect, because I think you get more interesting performances that way. 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I like to bang the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmore-leonard/it-took-me-20-years-to-buy-an-electric-typewriter-because-i-was/) [Elmore Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmore-leonard/) > [I was also known as Frodo because I was an early adopter of 'The Lord of the Rings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/i-was-also-known-as-frodo-because-i-was-an-early-adopter-of-the-lord/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [I believe in taxation and health care that is outside the usual libertarian mandate, because I don't want people to have to suffer. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-peart/i-believe-in-taxation-and-health-care-that-is-outside-the-usual/) [Neil Peart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-peart/) > [It's like saying French shouldn't be taught because you don't understand it because it's new. Shakespeare is just like learning a new, exciting language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-barnett/it-s-like-saying-french-shouldn-t-be-taught-because-you-don-t/) [Samuel Barnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-barnett/) > [Whether it was Little League or playing with your brothers or sisters, that was always a problem. If I would lose - because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-ripken-jr/whether-it-was-little-league-or-playing-with-your-brothers-or-sisters/) [Cal Ripken, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-ripken-jr/) > [Sometimes, when full and in fear that I will continue to eat unwanted food just because it's staring at me, I will place my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-nichols/sometimes-when-full-and-in-fear-that-i-will-continue-to-eat-unwanted/) [Rachel Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-nichols/) > [I didn't want to do 'Fashion Police' because I thought, 'This is stupid, this is beneath me, who wants to talk about fashion?' 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