--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He had to learn how not to let his eyes…" description: "\"“He had to learn how not to let his eyes be bewildered by manifestations, and thereby learn to treat appearances as signs and codes of the interior.”\" ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/355/ben-okri-3640_programming_he-had-to-learn-how-not-to-let-his-eyes_1282196.jpg" --- # He had to learn how not to let his eyes be bewildered by… ![“He had to learn how not to let his eyes be bewildered by manifestations, and thereby learn to treat appearances as signs and codes of the interior.” quote by Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/355/ben-okri-3640_programming_he-had-to-learn-how-not-to-let-his-eyes_1282196.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/355/ben-okri-3640_programming_he-had-to-learn-how-not-to-let-his-eyes_1282196.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/355/ben-okri-3640_programming_he-had-to-learn-how-not-to-let-his-eyes_1282196.jpg) > ““He had to learn how not to let his eyes be bewildered by manifestations, and thereby learn to treat appearances as signs and codes of the interior.”” [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He advises seeing beyond surface appearances, interpreting them as symbols of inner truth. **In simple terms:** Look beyond appearances to understand deeper meaning. Key Takeaway Seek deeper meaning behind outward signs. Themes perception interpretation inner truth spirituality Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - reading literature - psychotherapy - mindfulness practice - art analysis Key Concepts symbols signs inner reality Questions to Reflect On - What signs do you overlook? - How can you balance intuition with evidence? 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When two people touched from across a distance, that touch could be frightening, wary, or a stroke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lora-leigh/micah-knew-the-power-of-a-look-when-two-people-touched-from-across-a/) [Lora Leigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lora-leigh/) > [“To get a better idea try this: focus on these words, and whatever you do don’t let your eyes wander past the perimeter of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-z-danielewski/to-get-a-better-idea-try-this-focus-on-these-words-and-whatever-you/) [Mark Z. Danielewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-z-danielewski/) > [So keep your mouth closed & let your eyes listen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-wayne/so-keep-your-mouth-closed-let-your-eyes-listen/) [Lil Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-wayne/) > [“A deviant spark flares in his eyes, daring me to deny him. I don’t. I can’t. 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One way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/in-a-fractured-age-when-cynicism-is-god-here-is-a-possible-heresy-we/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [The best writing is not about the writer, the best writing is absolutely not about the writer, it's about us, it's about the reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/the-best-writing-is-not-about-the-writer-the-best-writing-is/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Maybe there are only three kinds of stories: those we live, those we tell, and those that help our souls fly upwards to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/maybe-there-are-only-three-kinds-of-stories-those-we-live-those-we/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [The earliest storytellers were magi, seers, bards, griots, shamans. 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It's the only space you have to realize whatever it is that is beautiful, whatever is true, whatever is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/our-time-here-is-magic-it-s-the-only-space-you-have-to-realize/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Fire is one of my temperaments. It is behind all my work... Fire is a chemical presence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/fire-is-one-of-my-temperaments-it-is-behind-all-my-work-fire-is-a/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [I lived rough, by my wits, was homeless, lived on the streets, lived on friends' floors, was happy, was miserable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/i-lived-rough-by-my-wits-was-homeless-lived-on-the-streets-lived-on/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [If we could be pure dancers in spirit we would never be afraid to love, and we would love with strength and wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/if-we-could-be-pure-dancers-in-spirit-we-would-never-be-afraid-to/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Without stories we would go mad. Life would lose its moorings or lose its orientations. even in silence we are living our stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/without-stories-we-would-go-mad-life-would-lose-its-moorings-or-lose/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Literature doesn't have a country. Shakespeare is an African writer. His Falstaff, for example, is very African in his appetite for life, his largeness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/literature-doesn-t-have-a-country-shakespeare-is-an-african-writer/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [“So long as a canvas is empty its potential is infinite… The empty canvas can become a gateway into the landscape of nightmares or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/so-long-as-a-canvas-is-empty-its-potential-is-infinite-the-empty/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [I went to London because, for me, it was the home of literature. I went there because of Dickens and Shakespeare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/i-went-to-london-because-for-me-it-was-the-home-of-literature-i-went/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) [Explore all 124 Ben Okri quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) ## More Manifestations quotes > [All things are manifestations of one thing only.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/all-things-are-manifestations-of-one-thing-only/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I think God surrounds us, in all different manifestations of the energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ziggy-marley/i-think-god-surrounds-us-in-all-different-manifestations-of-the-energy/) [Ziggy Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ziggy-marley/) > [I reveal all of myself. I bring all of myself to my roles. You only see me. You don't see anything else but me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-hunter/i-reveal-all-of-myself-i-bring-all-of-myself-to-my-roles-you-only-see/) [Holly Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-hunter/) > [The UFO manifestations seem to be, by and large, merely minor variations of the age-old demonological phenomenon...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-a-keel/the-ufo-manifestations-seem-to-be-by-and-large-merely-minor/) [John A. Keel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-a-keel/) > [We're constantly morphing into different outward manifestations of ourselves. That's what I find curious about people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/we-re-constantly-morphing-into-different-outward-manifestations-of/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) > [“In all its manifestations, love is our beginning”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonie-anderson/in-all-its-manifestations-love-is-our-beginning/) [Leonie Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonie-anderson/) > [I think it's always easy to be sympathetic to parts of the government in detail; in their concrete manifestations. Because obviously, we don't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/i-think-it-s-always-easy-to-be-sympathetic-to-parts-of-the-government/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [It is all very well for you, who have probably never seen any spiritual manifestations, to talk as you do; but if you had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/it-is-all-very-well-for-you-who-have-probably-never-seen-any/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [All the manifestations of love can be seen as a connection with our spirituality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-pierrakos/all-the-manifestations-of-love-can-be-seen-as-a-connection-with-our/) [John Pierrakos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-pierrakos/) > [Free from desire, you realize the mystery, caught in the desire, you see only the manifestations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/free-from-desire-you-realize-the-mystery-caught-in-the-desire-you-see/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everything in existence undergoes constant change. The things that surround us, even our selves are temporary manifestations of Ki energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilchi-lee/everything-in-existence-undergoes-constant-change-the-things-that/) [Ilchi Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilchi-lee/) > [All our difficulties are only platforms for the manifestations of His grace, power and love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hudson-taylor/all-our-difficulties-are-only-platforms-for-the-manifestations-of-his/) [Hudson Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hudson-taylor/) > [I bring all of myself to my roles. You only see me. You don't see anything else but me. That is who's there. They're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-hunter/i-bring-all-of-myself-to-my-roles-you-only-see-me-you-don-t-see/) [Holly Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-hunter/) > [Electrical science has disclosed to us the more intimate relation existing between widely different forces and phenomena and has thus led us to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikola-tesla/electrical-science-has-disclosed-to-us-the-more-intimate-relation/) [Nikola Tesla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikola-tesla/) > [My books are love stories at core, really. But I am interested in manifestations of love beyond the traditional romantic notion. In fact, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/my-books-are-love-stories-at-core-really-but-i-am-interested-in/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) [Browse all 56 Manifestations quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manifestations/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He had to learn how not to let his eyes be bewildered by manifestations, and thereby learn to treat appearances as signs and codes of the interior.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ben Okri" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/he-had-to-learn-how-not-to-let-his-eyes-be-bewildered-by/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Manifestations" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/he-had-to-learn-how-not-to-let-his-eyes-be-bewildered-by/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/355/ben-okri-3640_programming_he-had-to-learn-how-not-to-let-his-eyes_1282196.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/355/ben-okri-3640_programming_he-had-to-learn-how-not-to-let-his-eyes_1282196.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/355/ben-okri-3640_programming_he-had-to-learn-how-not-to-let-his-eyes_1282196.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He had to learn how not to let his eyes be bewildered by manifestations, and thereby learn to treat…” — Ben Okri", "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": "Ben Okri", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“He had to learn how not...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/he-had-to-learn-how-not-to-let-his-eyes-be-bewildered-by/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/he-had-to-learn-how-not-to-let-his-eyes-be-bewildered-by/#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 } } ] } ```