--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Man sees only between the blinks of his…" description: "\"“Man sees only between the blinks of his eyes. He does not know what the world is like during the blinks. He sees the world in pieces, in fragments.”\" ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b8/chaim-potok-2254_blinks_man-sees-only-between-the-blinks-of-his_3104224.png" --- # Man sees only between the blinks of his eyes. He does not… ![“Man sees only between the blinks of his eyes. He does not know what the world is like during the blinks. He sees the world in pieces, in fragments.” quote by Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b8/chaim-potok-2254_blinks_man-sees-only-between-the-blinks-of-his_3104224.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b8/chaim-potok-2254_blinks_man-sees-only-between-the-blinks-of-his_3104224.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b8/chaim-potok-2254_blinks_man-sees-only-between-the-blinks-of-his_3104224.png) > ““Man sees only between the blinks of his eyes. He does not know what the world is like during the blinks. He sees the world in pieces, in fragments.”” [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our perception is limited to brief moments, missing the continuous reality that exists beyond our awareness. **In simple terms:** We only glimpse fragments of reality. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of perception. Themes perception reality awareness Mood contemplative thoughtful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - daily observations - mindfulness practice - creative work Key Concepts philosophy cognitive limits Questions to Reflect On - How might you seek continuity beyond moments? - What does missing the whole imply? A Different Perspective Limited perception can lead to misunderstanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blinks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blinks-809873/) [Blinks Eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blinks-eyes-4184880/) [Blinks Sees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blinks-sees-5393140/) [Like Blinks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-blinks-5393142/) [Sees Blinks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sees-blinks-5393141/) ## Related quotes > [“Death is like that, it blinks, we blink; not always able to see the Stop signs, hiding behind trees in the corner of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/death-is-like-that-it-blinks-we-blink-not-always-able-to-see-the-stop/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [“Before I can allow myself to explore the idea of whether Rondo also thinks she’s the prettiest girl on the planet, I snatch myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-a-cole/before-i-can-allow-myself-to-explore-the-idea-of-whether-rondo-also/) [Olivia A. Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-a-cole/) > [We live less than the time it takes to blink an eye, if we measure our lives against eternity. So it may be asked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/we-live-less-than-the-time-it-takes-to-blink-an-eye-if-we-measure-our-2/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [“a blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something. A span of life is nothing, But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/a-blink-of-an-eye-in-itself-is-nothing-but-the-eye-that-blinks-that-2/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [“...a blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/a-blink-of-an-eye-in-itself-is-nothing-but-the-eye-that-blinks-that/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [“The blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something. A span of life is nothing. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/the-blink-of-an-eye-in-itself-is-nothing-but-the-eye-that-blinks-that/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [“...he blinks and says that there are two types of people: Those who want to cry, and those who are crying already and want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-dewitt/he-blinks-and-says-that-there-are-two-types-of-people-those-who-want/) [Patrick deWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-dewitt/) > [“I like to watch his hands as he works, making a blank page bloom with strokes of ink, adding touches of color to our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/i-like-to-watch-his-hands-as-he-works-making-a-blank-page-bloom-with/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [A blur of blinks, taps, jiggles, pivots and shifts ... the body language of a man wishing urgently to be elsewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-r-murrow/a-blur-of-blinks-taps-jiggles-pivots-and-shifts-the-body-language-of/) [Edward R. Murrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-r-murrow/) > [Janie blinks and leans against the wall, just in case. But it's no one's dream. It's just the end of some things. And the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-mcmann/janie-blinks-and-leans-against-the-wall-just-in-case-but-it-s-no-one/) [Lisa McMann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-mcmann/) > [Life is Only That One Moment When You Blink , So Don't try To correct what was Done like Thousand blinks Before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arturas-poe/life-is-only-that-one-moment-when-you-blink-so-don-t-try-to-correct/) [Arturas Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arturas-poe/) > [Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-brett/everything-can-change-in-the-blink-of-an-eye-but-don-t-worry-god/) [Regina Brett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/regina-brett/) > [Sixth sense, six pack, six degrees of separation / My evil third eye blinks with no hesitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ghostface-killah/sixth-sense-six-pack-six-degrees-of-separation-my-evil-third-eye/) [Ghostface Killah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ghostface-killah/) > [The moment a student blinks his eye, he's already way off. The moment he tries to think, he's already differed. The moment he arouses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linji-yixuan/the-moment-a-student-blinks-his-eye-he-s-already-way-off-the-moment/) [Linji Yixuan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linji-yixuan/) > [I have a problem, if the light goes on on TV and it blinks midnight, I don't know how to fix it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-rickles/i-have-a-problem-if-the-light-goes-on-on-tv-and-it-blinks-midnight-i/) [Don Rickles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-rickles/) ## More by Chaim Potok > [“DW: Some critics have written that they don’t admire your so-called simple style. You have contended that your writing is a result of much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/dw-some-critics-have-written-that-they-don-t-admire-your-so-called/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [“I cannot pray. I talk to God through my sculpture and painting.' 'That's also prayer.' He smiled faintly, the morning sun on his face.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/i-cannot-pray-i-talk-to-god-through-my-sculpture-and-painting-that-s/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [I don't work on my Sabbath. I write five-and-a-half or six days a week.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/i-don-t-work-on-my-sabbath-i-write-five-and-a-half-or-six-days-a-week/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [And these two elements are at odds with one another because Freud is utterly adversary to almost all the ways of structuring the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/and-these-two-elements-are-at-odds-with-one-another-because-freud-is/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [“How should a Jew feel? There we went through the seven gates of hell for matzos. Here I stand in matzos over my head.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/how-should-a-jew-feel-there-we-went-through-the-seven-gates-of-hell/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [“In our time... a man whose enemies are faceless bureaucrats almost never wins. It is our equivalent to the anger of the gods in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/in-our-time-a-man-whose-enemies-are-faceless-bureaucrats-almost-never/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [Seeds must be sown everywhere. Only some will bear fruit. But there would not be the fruit from the few had the many not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/seeds-must-be-sown-everywhere-only-some-will-bear-fruit-but-there/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [“Basically it’s none of our business how somebody manages to grow, if only he does grow, if only we’re on the trail of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/basically-it-s-none-of-our-business-how-somebody-manages-to-grow-if/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [“I walked the streets and tasted the golden sun that lay across the city.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/i-walked-the-streets-and-tasted-the-golden-sun-that-lay-across-the/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [What I have in advance are people I want to write about and a problem or problems that I see those people encountering and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/what-i-have-in-advance-are-people-i-want-to-write-about-and-a-problem/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [“Millions of people can draw. Art is whether there is a scream in you wanting to get out in a special way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/millions-of-people-can-draw-art-is-whether-there-is-a-scream-in-you/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [“When the alternative is possible disaster, a man must gamble.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/when-the-alternative-is-possible-disaster-a-man-must-gamble/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [I will go wherever the truth leads me. It is secular scholarship, Rebbe; it is not the scholarship of tradition. In secular scholarship there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/i-will-go-wherever-the-truth-leads-me-it-is-secular-scholarship-rebbe/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [… the world will indulge you just so long Asher Lev. Then it will stop. You will simply have to grow accustomed to that truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/the-world-will-indulge-you-just-so-long-asher-lev-then-it-will-stop/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [No one knows he is fortunate until he becomes unfortunate, that's the way the world is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/no-one-knows-he-is-fortunate-until-he-becomes-unfortunate-that-s-the/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) [Explore all 175 Chaim Potok quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) ## More Blinks quotes > [I have a problem, if the light goes on on TV and it blinks midnight, I don't know how to fix it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-rickles/i-have-a-problem-if-the-light-goes-on-on-tv-and-it-blinks-midnight-i/) [Don Rickles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-rickles/) > [“I like to watch his hands as he works, making a blank page bloom with strokes of ink, adding touches of color to our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/i-like-to-watch-his-hands-as-he-works-making-a-blank-page-bloom-with/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“The blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something. A span of life is nothing. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/the-blink-of-an-eye-in-itself-is-nothing-but-the-eye-that-blinks-that/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [Sixth sense, six pack, six degrees of separation / My evil third eye blinks with no hesitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ghostface-killah/sixth-sense-six-pack-six-degrees-of-separation-my-evil-third-eye/) [Ghostface Killah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ghostface-killah/) > [“...he blinks and says that there are two types of people: Those who want to cry, and those who are crying already and want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-dewitt/he-blinks-and-says-that-there-are-two-types-of-people-those-who-want/) [Patrick deWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-dewitt/) > [The moment a student blinks his eye, he's already way off. The moment he tries to think, he's already differed. The moment he arouses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linji-yixuan/the-moment-a-student-blinks-his-eye-he-s-already-way-off-the-moment/) [Linji Yixuan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linji-yixuan/) > [“...a blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/a-blink-of-an-eye-in-itself-is-nothing-but-the-eye-that-blinks-that/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-brett/everything-can-change-in-the-blink-of-an-eye-but-don-t-worry-god/) [Regina Brett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/regina-brett/) > [Life is Only That One Moment When You Blink , So Don't try To correct what was Done like Thousand blinks Before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arturas-poe/life-is-only-that-one-moment-when-you-blink-so-don-t-try-to-correct/) [Arturas Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arturas-poe/) > [Janie blinks and leans against the wall, just in case. But it's no one's dream. It's just the end of some things. And the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-mcmann/janie-blinks-and-leans-against-the-wall-just-in-case-but-it-s-no-one/) [Lisa McMann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-mcmann/) > [A blur of blinks, taps, jiggles, pivots and shifts ... the body language of a man wishing urgently to be elsewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-r-murrow/a-blur-of-blinks-taps-jiggles-pivots-and-shifts-the-body-language-of/) [Edward R. Murrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-r-murrow/) > [“Death is like that, it blinks, we blink; not always able to see the Stop signs, hiding behind trees in the corner of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/death-is-like-that-it-blinks-we-blink-not-always-able-to-see-the-stop/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [“You take care of my bairn." He blinks. "I beg your pardon?" "My ornithopter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-may/you-take-care-of-my-bairn-he-blinks-i-beg-your-pardon-my-ornithopter/) [Elizabeth May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-may/) > [“a blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something. A span of life is nothing, But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/a-blink-of-an-eye-in-itself-is-nothing-but-the-eye-that-blinks-that-2/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [“She blinks long. Long. Like a prayer-blink. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-martinez/she-blinks-long-long-like-a-prayer-blink/) [Jessica Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-martinez/) [Browse all 19 Blinks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blinks-809873/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Man sees only between the blinks of his eyes. He does not know what the world is like during the blinks. 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