--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you look at a shape like a straight…" description: "\"If you look at a shape like a straight line, what's remarkable is that if you look at a straight line from close by, from far away, it is the same; it ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7c/benoit-mandelbrot-7685_far-away_if-you-look-at-a-shape-like-a-straight-l_859733.jpg" --- # If you look at a shape like a straight line, what's… ![“If you look at a shape like a straight line, what's remarkable is that if you look at a straight line from close by, from far away, it is the same; it is a straight line.” quote by Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7c/benoit-mandelbrot-7685_far-away_if-you-look-at-a-shape-like-a-straight-l_859733.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7c/benoit-mandelbrot-7685_far-away_if-you-look-at-a-shape-like-a-straight-l_859733.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d7c/benoit-mandelbrot-7685_far-away_if-you-look-at-a-shape-like-a-straight-l_859733.jpg) > “If you look at a shape like a straight line, what's remarkable is that if you look at a straight line from close by, from far away, it is the same; it is a straight line.” [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A straight line looks the same at any scale, illustrating self‑similarity and the invariance of simple forms. **In simple terms:** Lines stay the same up close and far. Key Takeaway Recognize patterns that persist across scales. Themes geometry scale self‑similarity Mood analytical curious Type educational scientific When to use this quote - architectural design - data visualization - urban planning Key Concepts fractal theory mathematical invariance Questions to Reflect On - What other phenomena show scale invariance? - How does self‑similarity aid analysis? A Different Perspective Real‑world objects often deviate from perfect straightness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Far away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/far-away/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Like Straight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-straight-351745/) [Line Remarkable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/line-remarkable-839707/) [Lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/) [Look Shape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/look-shape-839708/) [Look Straight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/look-straight-295082/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [Remarkable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remarkable/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) [Straight line](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/straight-line/) [Straight lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/straight-lines/) ## Related quotes > [Everything is roughness, except for the circles. How many circles are there in nature? Very, very few. The straight lines. Very shapes are very,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/everything-is-roughness-except-for-the-circles-how-many-circles-are/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [The way I look and the shape I am in, I've had so many people tell me, 'You'll never make it because of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-owens/the-way-i-look-and-the-shape-i-am-in-i-ve-had-so-many-people-tell-me/) [Kevin Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-owens/) > [I thought, well, you might see curves there, but that's just a bone - so even if I lose weight that's not going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hendricks/i-thought-well-you-might-see-curves-there-but-that-s-just-a-bone-so/) [Christina Hendricks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hendricks/) > [Men and women are so alike that a woman must make an intellectual effort to differentiate herself. As soon as one understands who one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-rykiel/men-and-women-are-so-alike-that-a-woman-must-make-an-intellectual/) [Sonia Rykiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-rykiel/) > [Dont look at the shape -- look at the character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/dont-look-at-the-shape-look-at-the-character/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [I honestly think that a Pavlik fight would be easier than Jones because styles make fights. He's one dimensional, comes in straight lines, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-calzaghe/i-honestly-think-that-a-pavlik-fight-would-be-easier-than-jones/) [Joe Calzaghe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-calzaghe/) > [The so called "progress," "time marching on," is not a straight line, but a pendulum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/the-so-called-progress-time-marching-on-is-not-a-straight-line-but-a/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [“At thee seaside all is narrow horizontals, the world reduced to a few long straight lines pressed between earth and sky.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-banville/at-thee-seaside-all-is-narrow-horizontals-the-world-reduced-to-a-few/) [John Banville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-banville/) > [If the earth were not round, heavy bodies would not tend from every side in a straight line towards the center of the earth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-kepler/if-the-earth-were-not-round-heavy-bodies-would-not-tend-from-every/) [Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/) > [History doesn't always move in a straight line. Sometimes it zigs and zags.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/history-doesn-t-always-move-in-a-straight-line-sometimes-it-zigs-and/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Common to the two geometries is only the general property of one-to-one correspondence, and the rule that this correspondence determines straight lines as shortest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-reichenbach/common-to-the-two-geometries-is-only-the-general-property-of-one-to/) [Hans Reichenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-reichenbach/) > [When you organize your work and look back at your entire production, it may feel like you're looking at a straight line, but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vik-muniz/when-you-organize-your-work-and-look-back-at-your-entire-production/) [Vik Muniz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vik-muniz/) > [The song of the curved line is called happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-crevel/the-song-of-the-curved-line-is-called-happiness/) [Rene Crevel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-crevel/) > [A circle is a round straight line with a hole in the middle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-circle-is-a-round-straight-line-with-a-hole-in-the-middle/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Look at Jane Austen. Her characters derive in a reasonably straight line from fairy tales.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-davies/look-at-jane-austen-her-characters-derive-in-a-reasonably-straight/) [Andrew Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-davies/) ## More by Benoit Mandelbrot > [Regular geometry, the geometry of Euclid, is concerned with shapes which are smooth, except perhaps for corners and lines, special lines which are singularities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/regular-geometry-the-geometry-of-euclid-is-concerned-with-shapes/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [It was astonishing when at one point, I got the idea of how to make artifical clouds with a collaborator, we had pictures made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/it-was-astonishing-when-at-one-point-i-got-the-idea-of-how-to-make/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [Pictures were completely eliminated from mathematics; in particular when I was young this happened in a very strong fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/pictures-were-completely-eliminated-from-mathematics-in-particular/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [In mathematics and science definition are simple, but bare-bones. 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Not by choice at the beginning at all, but later on, I had become used to complication and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/my-life-has-been-extremely-complicated-not-by-choice-at-the-beginning/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [The extraordinary fact is that the first idea I had which motivated me, that worked, is conjecture, a mathematical idea which may or may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/the-extraordinary-fact-is-that-the-first-idea-i-had-which-motivated/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [Most economists, when modeling market behavior, tend to sweep major fluctuations under the rug and assume they are anomalies. What I have found is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/most-economists-when-modeling-market-behavior-tend-to-sweep-major/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [I don't seek power and do not run around](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/i-don-t-seek-power-and-do-not-run-around/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [I conceived and developed a new geometry of nature and implemented its use in a number of diverse fields. It describes many of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/i-conceived-and-developed-a-new-geometry-of-nature-and-implemented/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [When I first began studying prices, it wasn't a topic that mathematicians were working on. Purely by accident, I saw a set of data…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/when-i-first-began-studying-prices-it-wasn-t-a-topic-that/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [The rare scholars who are nomads-by-choice are essential to the intellectual welfare of the settled disciplines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/the-rare-scholars-who-are-nomads-by-choice-are-essential-to-the/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [Science would be ruined if (like sports) it were to put competition above everything else, and if it were to clarify the rules of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/science-would-be-ruined-if-like-sports-it-were-to-put-competition/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [Many painters had a clear idea of what fractals are. Take a French classic painter named Poussin. Now, he painted beautiful landscapes, completely artificial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/many-painters-had-a-clear-idea-of-what-fractals-are-take-a-french/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [I had very, very little training in taking an exam to determine a scientist's life in France.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/i-had-very-very-little-training-in-taking-an-exam-to-determine-a/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) [Explore all 88 Benoit Mandelbrot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) ## More Far away quotes > [Sam dropped me off. When she was too far away to see me, I started to cry again. 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To me personally, this was a life-changing experience, and I realized, as did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/on-9-11-we-discovered-that-we-cannot-escape-from-the-world-to-me/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [It's often frustrating when you're a war reporter and you're covering these places that far away. You're frustrated by making stories that people can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-rowley/it-s-often-frustrating-when-you-re-a-war-reporter-and-you-re-covering/) [Rick Rowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-rowley/) > [A ship's engine far away on the water expands the summer-night horizon. Both joy and sorrow swell in the dew's magnifying glass. Without really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomas-transtromer/a-ship-s-engine-far-away-on-the-water-expands-the-summer-night/) [Tomas Transtromer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomas-transtromer/) > [“God seems to far away. Does He? Have you noted the splendid display of wildflowers? Have you listened to a child's laughter or watched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diann-mills/god-seems-to-far-away-does-he-have-you-noted-the-splendid-display-of/) [DiAnn Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diann-mills/) > [In other countries, it's a common thing to have outcast children running around the streets in packs, and I don't think we're so far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-spheeris/in-other-countries-it-s-a-common-thing-to-have-outcast-children/) [Penelope Spheeris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-spheeris/) > [So here is my story, may it bring Some smiles and a tear or so, It happened once upon a time, Far away, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-jacques/so-here-is-my-story-may-it-bring-some-smiles-and-a-tear-or-so-it/) [Brian Jacques](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-jacques/) > [ Nineteen thousand children \[are\] dying every day. 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