---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To shut you eyes is to guess nothing of…"
description: "\"“To shut you eyes is to guess nothing of blindness.”\" — Anthony Doerr"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e07/anthony-doerr-886_blindness_to-shut-you-eyes-is-to-guess-nothing-of_405360.png"
---

#  To shut you eyes is to guess nothing of blindness.

![“To shut you eyes is to guess nothing of blindness.” quote by Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e07/anthony-doerr-886_blindness_to-shut-you-eyes-is-to-guess-nothing-of_405360.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e07/anthony-doerr-886_blindness_to-shut-you-eyes-is-to-guess-nothing-of_405360.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e07/anthony-doerr-886_blindness_to-shut-you-eyes-is-to-guess-nothing-of_405360.png)

> ““To shut you eyes is to guess nothing of blindness.””

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Blindness is not merely lack of sight but an unknown state; guessing is futile.

**In simple terms:** Blindness is unknown, not guessed.

Key Takeaway

Seek understanding over assumptions.

Themes

perception ignorance knowledge

Mood

thoughtful serious

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- health
- disability
- education
- communication

Key Concepts

philosophy epistemology

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you avoid guessing about others?
- What does true insight require?

A Different Perspective

Assumptions can mislead about unseen realities.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Blindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blindness/)

## Related quotes

> [“To shut your eyes is to guess nothing of blindness. Beneath your world of skies and faces and buildings exists a rawer and older…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/to-shut-your-eyes-is-to-guess-nothing-of-blindness-beneath-your-world-2/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

> [“To shut your eyes is to guess nothing of blindness. Beneath your world of skies and faces and buildings exists a rawer and older…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/to-shut-your-eyes-is-to-guess-nothing-of-blindness-beneath-your-world/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

> [I have... a dark look in my eyes, I guess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-meade/i-have-a-dark-look-in-my-eyes-i-guess/)

[Emily Meade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-meade/)

> [“Shut your eyes in order to see.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/shut-your-eyes-in-order-to-see/)

[Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/)

> [Keep your mouth shut and your eyes open.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-palmer/keep-your-mouth-shut-and-your-eyes-open/)

[Samuel Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-palmer/)

> [I shut my eyes in order to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gauguin/i-shut-my-eyes-in-order-to-see/)

[Paul Gauguin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gauguin/)

> [“I don't answer. I shut my eyes and hold my breath and hope whoever it is will think I'm not here and go home.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-weiner/i-don-t-answer-i-shut-my-eyes-and-hold-my-breath-and-hope-whoever-it/)

[Jennifer Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-weiner/)

> [It is sure to be dark if you shut your eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-farquhar-tupper/it-is-sure-to-be-dark-if-you-shut-your-eyes/)

[Martin Farquhar Tupper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-farquhar-tupper/)

> [“When I lost my sight, Werner, people said I was brave. When my father left, people said I was brave. But it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/when-i-lost-my-sight-werner-people-said-i-was-brave-when-my-father/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

> [Do not shut your eyes to all that God is doing for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-not-shut-your-eyes-to-all-that-god-is-doing-for-you/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“I couldn't make any judgment on the Summa, except to say this: I read it for about twenty minutes every night before I go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/i-couldn-t-make-any-judgment-on-the-summa-except-to-say-this-i-read/)

[Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/)

> [The trouble is you can shut your eyes but you can’t shut your mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-trouble-is-you-can-shut-your-eyes-but-you-can-t-shut-your-mind/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [“I shut my eyes tightly, willing myself to go back to sleep. I want to go back to my dream, back to Caleb. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-roberts/i-shut-my-eyes-tightly-willing-myself-to-go-back-to-sleep-i-want-to/)

[C.J. Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-roberts/)

> [“She had seen Daniel here earlier. He had come onto the ward, sat beside her bed. As soon as she saw him coming she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-edwards/she-had-seen-daniel-here-earlier-he-had-come-onto-the-ward-sat-beside/)

[Mark Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-edwards/)

> [“I shut my eyes tight, trying to savor the moment. I knew I would wish for that moment back every day of my life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-mcguire/i-shut-my-eyes-tight-trying-to-savor-the-moment-i-knew-i-would-wish/)

[Jamie McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-mcguire/)

## More by Anthony Doerr

> [I was a nerdy kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/i-was-a-nerdy-kid/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

> [“he moved neither forward nor backward in time, but merely endured variations of the same day over and over. Maybe he was the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/he-moved-neither-forward-nor-backward-in-time-but-merely-endured/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

> [“Open your eyes, the Frenchman on the radio used to say, and see what you can with them before they close forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/open-your-eyes-the-frenchman-on-the-radio-used-to-say-and-see-what/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

> [“Just when we think we have a system, ...the system collapses. Just when we know our way around, we get lost. Just when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/just-when-we-think-we-have-a-system-the-system-collapses-just-when-we/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

> [“An hour passed and another and then, like a glass of water overfilled - the meniscus inverting, going convex, gravity pulling at the edges,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/an-hour-passed-and-another-and-then-like-a-glass-of-water-overfilled/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

> [“For dinner, he orders wild boar cooked with fresh mushrooms. And a full bottle of Bordeaux. Especially during wartime, such things remain important. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/for-dinner-he-orders-wild-boar-cooked-with-fresh-mushrooms-and-a-full/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

> [“Do you know what happens, Etienne,” says Madame Manec from the other side of the kitchen, “when you drop a frog in a pot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/do-you-know-what-happens-etienne-says-madame-manec-from-the-other/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

> [“You ever hope for something so much? So much you can't sleep, so much your skull hurts? But the thing is, you don't even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/you-ever-hope-for-something-so-much-so-much-you-can-t-sleep-so-much/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

> [“Hope was a sunrise, a friend in the alley, a whisper in an empty corridor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/hope-was-a-sunrise-a-friend-in-the-alley-a-whisper-in-an-empty/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

> [Time is a slippery thing: lose hold of it once, and its string might sail out of your hands forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/time-is-a-slippery-thing-lose-hold-of-it-once-and-its-string-might/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

> [“...the air a library and the record of every life lived, every sentence spoken, every word transmitted still reverberating within it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/the-air-a-library-and-the-record-of-every-life-lived-every-sentence/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

> [“silent desperation of everything they never said - gaps and absences in every conversation, the past circumscribing the present, the future hemming in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/silent-desperation-of-everything-they-never-said-gaps-and-absences-in/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

> [“She is in charge of everything, but no one knows. It is a tremendous burden, she says, to be responsible for every little thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/she-is-in-charge-of-everything-but-no-one-knows-it-is-a-tremendous/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

> [I guess you could say I've been writing all my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/i-guess-you-could-say-i-ve-been-writing-all-my-life/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

> [Only Numbers. Pure math. You have to accustom yourself to thinking that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/only-numbers-pure-math-you-have-to-accustom-yourself-to-thinking-that/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

[Explore all 336 Anthony Doerr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

## More Blindness quotes

> [I guess I was so blinded by who I wanted you to be, that I didn't see who you really were.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-copeland/i-guess-i-was-so-blinded-by-who-i-wanted-you-to-be-that-i-didn-t-see/)

[Rachel Copeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-copeland/)

> [I will love you till a mute women tells his deaf friend about a blind women that saw a girl with no legs walking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-will-love-you-till-a-mute-women-tells-his-deaf-friend-about-a-blind/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/cynicism-masquerades-as-wisdom-but-it-is-the-farthest-thing-from-it/)

[Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/)

> [These eyes, tho' clear To outward view of blemish or of spot, Bereft of light, their seeing have forgot, Nor to their idle orbs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/these-eyes-tho-clear-to-outward-view-of-blemish-or-of-spot-bereft-of/)

[John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/)

> [“And the blind man said to the deaf man, "Do you see what I hear?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-gerard-trotman/and-the-blind-man-said-to-the-deaf-man-do-you-see-what-i-hear/)

[Wayne Gerard Trotman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-gerard-trotman/)

> [With every rising of the sun Think of your life as just begun. The past has shrived and buried deep All yesterdays— there let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/with-every-rising-of-the-sun-think-of-your-life-as-just-begun-the/)

[Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/)

> [The observation of human blindness and weakness is the result of all philosophy, and meets us at every turn, in spite of our endeavours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-observation-of-human-blindness-and-weakness-is-the-result-of-all/)

[David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/)

> [Some men make money not for the sake of living, but ache In the blindness of greed and live just for their fortune's sake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juvenal/some-men-make-money-not-for-the-sake-of-living-but-ache-in-the/)

[Juvenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juvenal/)

> [Blindness separates us from things but deafness separates us from people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/blindness-separates-us-from-things-but-deafness-separates-us-from/)

[Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/)

> [I give money to Unicef because I like the 'bang for your buck' aspect. Here's $10, go and save 1,000 kids from blindness!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emo-philips/i-give-money-to-unicef-because-i-like-the-bang-for-your-buck-aspect/)

[Emo Philips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emo-philips/)

> [The recovery of spiritual sight and the healing of physical blindness have much in common. Some of those whose bodily eyes were blind received…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-palamas/the-recovery-of-spiritual-sight-and-the-healing-of-physical-blindness/)

[Gregory Palamas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-palamas/)

> [The simplest things to see are the things we are most blind to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milliton-munney/the-simplest-things-to-see-are-the-things-we-are-most-blind-to/)

[Milliton MUNNEY](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milliton-munney/)

> [Blackout is the way we feel how the blind people feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/blackout-is-the-way-we-feel-how-the-blind-people-feel/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The blindness of the eye in darkness is as life in the absence of true love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brain-emrys/the-blindness-of-the-eye-in-darkness-is-as-life-in-the-absence-of/)

[Brain Emrys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brain-emrys/)

> [It was a huge deal, a huge musical discovery that became life lessons learned. You can't return from having an experience like that. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-harper/it-was-a-huge-deal-a-huge-musical-discovery-that-became-life-lessons/)

[Ben Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-harper/)

[Browse all 580 Blindness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blindness/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“To shut you eyes is to guess nothing of blindness.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Anthony Doerr"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/to-shut-you-eyes-is-to-guess-nothing-of-blindness/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Blindness"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/to-shut-you-eyes-is-to-guess-nothing-of-blindness/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e07/anthony-doerr-886_blindness_to-shut-you-eyes-is-to-guess-nothing-of_405360.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e07/anthony-doerr-886_blindness_to-shut-you-eyes-is-to-guess-nothing-of_405360.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e07/anthony-doerr-886_blindness_to-shut-you-eyes-is-to-guess-nothing-of_405360.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“To shut you eyes is to guess nothing of blindness.” — Anthony Doerr",
                "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": "Anthony Doerr",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“To shut you eyes is to...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/to-shut-you-eyes-is-to-guess-nothing-of-blindness/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/to-shut-you-eyes-is-to-guess-nothing-of-blindness/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
