--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I had very good eyes once. Though it's…" description: "\"I had very good eyes once. Though it's another thing to say what I saw. In my experience, it is entirely possible to watch something happen and not to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/331/anna-funder-9522_eye_i-had-very-good-eyes-once-though-it-s-an_2409717.png" --- # I had very good eyes once. Though it's another thing to… ![“I had very good eyes once. Though it's another thing to say what I saw. In my experience, it is entirely possible to watch something happen and not to see it at all.” quote by Anna Funder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/331/anna-funder-9522_eye_i-had-very-good-eyes-once-though-it-s-an_2409717.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/331/anna-funder-9522_eye_i-had-very-good-eyes-once-though-it-s-an_2409717.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/331/anna-funder-9522_eye_i-had-very-good-eyes-once-though-it-s-an_2409717.png) > “I had very good eyes once. Though it's another thing to say what I saw. In my experience, it is entirely possible to watch something happen and not to see it at all.” [Anna Funder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-funder/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Seeing does not guarantee understanding; observation can miss deeper meaning without reflection. **In simple terms:** Seeing isn’t always understanding. Key Takeaway Look deeper beyond appearances. Themes perception understanding experience Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - learning - investigative work - personal growth Key Concepts cognitive bias mindfulness interpretation Questions to Reflect On - How often do you miss the point of what you see? - What steps help you move from seeing to understanding? A Different Perspective Missing insight can lead to misjudgment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Eyes Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eyes-thing-1639504/) [Good Eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-eyes-491026/) [Possible Watch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possible-watch-1325527/) [Saw Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saw-experience-2188042/) [Saws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saws/) [Very good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/very-good/) [Watch Happen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/watch-happen-419108/) [Watches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/watches/) ## Related quotes > ["There is no disputing about tastes," says the old saw. In my experience there is little else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/there-is-no-disputing-about-tastes-says-the-old-saw-in-my-experience/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [It's possible to watch 'Gone Girl' and feel that you have seen something terribly bleak. But it's also possible to receive it as good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/it-s-possible-to-watch-gone-girl-and-feel-that-you-have-seen/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [I do not think that there need be the conflict between books and videos, that one would drive out the other. It certainly is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinua-achebe/i-do-not-think-that-there-need-be-the-conflict-between-books-and/) [Chinua Achebe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinua-achebe/) > [“Instead, I opened my eyes to find the thing in front of my face, wafting dead horse breath across my chin and up my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-celebi/instead-i-opened-my-eyes-to-find-the-thing-in-front-of-my-face/) [Shannon Celebi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-celebi/) > [I never see the color of a person. I never notice the color of their eyes. But the thing that always gets my attention.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-victor-paskavich/i-never-see-the-color-of-a-person-i-never-notice-the-color-of-their/) [Stanley Victor Paskavich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-victor-paskavich/) > [Come a little closer, love the way you look tonight, my eyes are the only thing, I don't want to take off you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-shelton/come-a-little-closer-love-the-way-you-look-tonight-my-eyes-are-the-2/) [Blake Shelton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-shelton/) > [I push my fingers into my eyes, Its the only thing that slowly stops the ache, but its made of all the things I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slipknot/i-push-my-fingers-into-my-eyes-its-the-only-thing-that-slowly-stops/) [Slipknot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slipknot/) > [Come a little closer, love the way you look tonight My eyes are the only thing I don't wanna take off of you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-shelton/come-a-little-closer-love-the-way-you-look-tonight-my-eyes-are-the/) [Blake Shelton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-shelton/) > [There are three kinds of people. Those who make it happen. Those who watch it happen. And those who don't no what the heck…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-are-three-kinds-of-people-those-who-make-it-happen-those-who/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No pressure. Just relax and watch it happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-ross/no-pressure-just-relax-and-watch-it-happen/) [Bob Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-ross/) > [“There are three types of people in this world. Those who watch it happen, those who let it happen,and those who make it happen.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-baldwin/there-are-three-types-of-people-in-this-world-those-who-watch-it/) [Greg Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-baldwin/) > [“I made a vow all those years ago that nobody would die on my watch... Never will that happen again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-minton/i-made-a-vow-all-those-years-ago-that-nobody-would-die-on-my-watch/) [B. C. Minton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-minton/) > [Whenever you get to change somebody's life or watch it and see it happen, it's amazing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-fieri/whenever-you-get-to-change-somebody-s-life-or-watch-it-and-see-it/) [Guy Fieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-fieri/) > [I could either watch it happen or be a part of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/i-could-either-watch-it-happen-or-be-a-part-of-it/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [“Instead of trying to watch it happen differently, why don't you try to not watch it at all?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-buxbaum/instead-of-trying-to-watch-it-happen-differently-why-don-t-you-try-to/) [Julie Buxbaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-buxbaum/) ## More by Anna Funder > [At the end of our lives it is our loves we remember most, because they are what shaped us. We have grown to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-funder/at-the-end-of-our-lives-it-is-our-loves-we-remember-most-because-they/) [Anna Funder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-funder/) > [“The blue-eyed rabbi in our village at Samotschin used to talk to me as though I were a grown person, even when I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-funder/the-blue-eyed-rabbi-in-our-village-at-samotschin-used-to-talk-to-me/) [Anna Funder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-funder/) > [“History was so quickly remade, and so successfully, that it can truly be said that the easterners did not feel then, and do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-funder/history-was-so-quickly-remade-and-so-successfully-that-it-can-truly/) [Anna Funder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-funder/) > [ “The penalties for being an accessory to the attempt to flee the \[GDR\] were greater than the crime of trying to flee itself.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-funder/the-penalties-for-being-an-accessory-to-the-attempt-to-flee-the-gdr/) [Anna Funder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-funder/) > [“Such applications were sometimes granted because the GDR, unlike any other eastern European country, could rid itself of malcontents by ditching them into West…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-funder/such-applications-were-sometimes-granted-because-the-gdr-unlike-any/) [Anna Funder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-funder/) > [“anti-fascist protective measure’. I have always been fond of this term which has something of the prophylactic about it, protecting easterners from the western…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-funder/anti-fascist-protective-measure-i-have-always-been-fond-of-this-term/) [Anna Funder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-funder/) > [“Lately, a study has suggested that depressed people have a more accurate view of reality, though this accuracy is not worth a bean because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-funder/lately-a-study-has-suggested-that-depressed-people-have-a-more/) [Anna Funder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-funder/) > [“Julia and her family, like many others in the GDR, trod this line between seeing things for what they were in the GDR, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-funder/julia-and-her-family-like-many-others-in-the-gdr-trod-this-line/) [Anna Funder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-funder/) > [The cynic sees only cynicism, the depressive can taint creation with one glance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-funder/the-cynic-sees-only-cynicism-the-depressive-can-taint-creation-with/) [Anna Funder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-funder/) > [“And I think about those Stasi men. They would never in their lives have imagined that they would cease to exist and that their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-funder/and-i-think-about-those-stasi-men-they-would-never-in-their-lives/) [Anna Funder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-funder/) > [Per capita the East Germans drank more than twice as much as their West German counterparts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-funder/per-capita-the-east-germans-drank-more-than-twice-as-much-as-their/) [Anna Funder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-funder/) > [Most people have no imagination. If they could imagine the sufferings of others, they would not make them suffer so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-funder/most-people-have-no-imagination-if-they-could-imagine-the-sufferings/) [Anna Funder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-funder/) > [“Mielke and Honecker grew up fighting the real evil of Nazism. And they kept on fighting the west, which they saw as Nazism’s successor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-funder/mielke-and-honecker-grew-up-fighting-the-real-evil-of-nazism-and-they/) [Anna Funder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-funder/) > [“Beyond all of that, I could see the wall I had seen from inside the train, the wall that runs along the train line.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-funder/beyond-all-of-that-i-could-see-the-wall-i-had-seen-from-inside-the/) [Anna Funder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-funder/) > [“In August, the Hungarians cut the barbed wire at their border with Austria, creating the first hole in the Eastern Bloc.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-funder/in-august-the-hungarians-cut-the-barbed-wire-at-their-border-with/) [Anna Funder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-funder/) [Explore all 72 Anna Funder quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-funder/) ## More Eye quotes > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [If you take your eye off the ball or lose focus for even a minute you can lose a game against any team.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felipe-anderson/if-you-take-your-eye-off-the-ball-or-lose-focus-for-even-a-minute-you/) [Felipe Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felipe-anderson/) > [“He blinked. His eyes fell as he processed her response. Then he lifted his chin and attempted a grin that was almost painfully dejected.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-meyer/he-blinked-his-eyes-fell-as-he-processed-her-response-then-he-lifted/) [Marissa Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marissa-meyer/) > [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. The next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/i-wrote-when-i-was-a-young-teen-but-i-didn-t-put-an-eye-on-the/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [Changes before your eyes, things you can do and things you can't. My attitude is always let it keep rolling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-malick/changes-before-your-eyes-things-you-can-do-and-things-you-can-t-my/) [Terrence Malick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-malick/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [Quotations can be valuable, like raisins in the rice pudding, for adding iron as well as eye appeal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peg-bracken/quotations-can-be-valuable-like-raisins-in-the-rice-pudding-for/) [Peg Bracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peg-bracken/) > [Clearly, when we baptize, our eyes should gaze beyond the baptismal font to the holy temple. The great garner into which the sheaves should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-a-maxwell/clearly-when-we-baptize-our-eyes-should-gaze-beyond-the-baptismal/) [Neal A. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-a-maxwell/) > [At the end of night, before you close your eyes, be content with what you've done and be proud of who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-almond/at-the-end-of-night-before-you-close-your-eyes-be-content-with-what/) [Steve Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-almond/) > [Be neither too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it; what custom hath civilized is become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/be-neither-too-early-in-the-fashion-nor-too-long-out-of-it-nor-too/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [It lies around us like a cloud- A world we do not see; Yet the sweet closing of an eye May bring us there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/it-lies-around-us-like-a-cloud-a-world-we-do-not-see-yet-the-sweet/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [She'd read once that if you ran into a bear in the woods you should avoid eye contact and you shouldn't run away, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ursu/she-d-read-once-that-if-you-ran-into-a-bear-in-the-woods-you-should/) [Anne Ursu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ursu/) > [Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/liesel-observed-the-strangeness-of-her-foster-father-s-eyes-they-were/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) [Browse all 16,237 Eye quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I had very good eyes once. Though it's another thing to say what I saw. 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