--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To describe this world is not to describe…" description: "\"To describe this world is not to describe reality 'in itself', as it is independently of how we regard and describe it.\" — David E. Cooper" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/david-e-cooper-13916_independently_to-describe-this-world-is-not-to-describ_2777856.jpg" --- # To describe this world is not to describe reality 'in… ![“To describe this world is not to describe reality 'in itself', as it is independently of how we regard and describe it.” quote by David E. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/david-e-cooper-13916_independently_to-describe-this-world-is-not-to-describ_2777856.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/david-e-cooper-13916_independently_to-describe-this-world-is-not-to-describ_2777856.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c20/david-e-cooper-13916_independently_to-describe-this-world-is-not-to-describ_2777856.jpg) > “To describe this world is not to describe reality 'in itself', as it is independently of how we regard and describe it.” [David E. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-cooper/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describing the world is inseparable from our perspective; reality is co‑constructed. **In simple terms:** World description depends on viewpoint. Key Takeaway Recognize subjective lenses. Themes perception reality language Mood thoughtful curious Type philosophical academic When to use this quote - science - art - communication Key Concepts phenomenology constructivism Questions to Reflect On - How does your perspective shape reality? - Can you describe reality objectively? A Different Perspective Objective truth is elusive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Independently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/independently/) [Independently Regard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/independently-regard-3287975/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Reality Independently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality-independently-2571686/) [Regard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regard/) [This world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/this-world/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-reality-271813/) ## Related quotes > [I would say that I am an academic in politics. I have never abandoned my academic approach to observe reality, independently from the subject…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-haddad/i-would-say-that-i-am-an-academic-in-politics-i-have-never-abandoned/) [Fernando Haddad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-haddad/) > [The Universe is not a collection of objects, but is an inseparable web of vibrating energy patterns in which no one component has reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-davies/the-universe-is-not-a-collection-of-objects-but-is-an-inseparable-web/) [Paul Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-davies/) > [The end of this world occurs when you move from one world into another, from one reality into another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-end-of-this-world-occurs-when-you-move-from-one-world-into/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [We don't live in a world of reality, we live in a world of perceptions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-don-t-live-in-a-world-of-reality-we-live-in-a-world-of-perceptions/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [They must remember that they are constantly on the run, and that the world's reality is actually expressed by their escape.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/they-must-remember-that-they-are-constantly-on-the-run-and-that-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [We don't live in the world of reality, we live in the world of how we perceive reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-singer/we-don-t-live-in-the-world-of-reality-we-live-in-the-world-of-how-we/) [Bryan Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-singer/) > [If we face the fact, for it is a fact, that there is no arm to cling to, but that we go alone and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/if-we-face-the-fact-for-it-is-a-fact-that-there-is-no-arm-to-cling-to/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [ “\[...\] I grew up out of that strange, dreamy childhood of mine and went into the world of reality. I met with experiences that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/i-grew-up-out-of-that-strange-dreamy-childhood-of-mine-and-went-into/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [The world of literature is a world where there is no reality except that of the human imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/northrop-frye/the-world-of-literature-is-a-world-where-there-is-no-reality-except/) [Northrop Frye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/northrop-frye/) > [I'm a very passionate believer in the unity of knowledge. 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Your reality is a much larger one that takes in all matter of identification and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/reality-isn-t-simply-the-so-called-world-that-you-re-in-your-reality/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [“In a virtually perfect world, reality still remains an inconvenient truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-pauley/in-a-virtually-perfect-world-reality-still-remains-an-inconvenient/) [Phil Pauley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-pauley/) > [Our normal expectations about reality are created by a social consensus. We are taught how to see and understand the world. The trick of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/our-normal-expectations-about-reality-are-created-by-a-social/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [While the world of reality has its limits, the world of your imagination is without boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/while-the-world-of-reality-has-its-limits-the-world-of-your/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) ## More by David E. Cooper > [What impressed me about Plato and Sartre was their conviction that we should live our lives in the light of big truths about reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-cooper/what-impressed-me-about-plato-and-sartre-was-their-conviction-that-we/) [David E. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-cooper/) > [The main objection to the 'scientistic' claim that physics describes the world as it is in itself is that you 'can't weed out' the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-cooper/the-main-objection-to-the-scientistic-claim-that-physics-describes/) [David E. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-cooper/) > [It's as if, for Schopenhauer and perhaps Kant, the mind is there up and running, equipped with its categories and concepts that it then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-cooper/it-s-as-if-for-schopenhauer-and-perhaps-kant-the-mind-is-there-up-and/) [David E. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-cooper/) > [I don't think we should just 'muddle through' and ignore the question of life's meaning. Or better, perhaps, I don't think it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-cooper/i-don-t-think-we-should-just-muddle-through-and-ignore-the-question/) [David E. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-cooper/) > [In all great civilizations, garden discourses have belonged to larger discourses about beauty, the good life, the relation of humankind to nature, and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-cooper/in-all-great-civilizations-garden-discourses-have-belonged-to-larger/) [David E. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-cooper/) > [There is something myopic and stunted in focussing only on the meaning of words and sentences. And this myopia is especially unfortunate when combined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-cooper/there-is-something-myopic-and-stunted-in-focussing-only-on-the/) [David E. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-cooper/) > [It turns out, in fact, that 'theories of meaning' are typically not about meaning in an everyday or 'folk' sense at all. They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-cooper/it-turns-out-in-fact-that-theories-of-meaning-are-typically-not-about/) [David E. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-cooper/) > [In the doctrine of the world and humankind as 'will to power and nothing else', Heidegger identified not an antidote to nihilism, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-cooper/in-the-doctrine-of-the-world-and-humankind-as-will-to-power-and/) [David E. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-cooper/) > [How people make gardens is bound to reflect a way of experiencing the natural world, while at the same time this experience of nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-cooper/how-people-make-gardens-is-bound-to-reflect-a-way-of-experiencing-the/) [David E. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-cooper/) > [The focus of environmental ethics should indeed be on the virtues and how these inform our relationship to natural environments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-cooper/the-focus-of-environmental-ethics-should-indeed-be-on-the-virtues-and/) [David E. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-cooper/) > [For many years, questions about the meaning of life were dismissed as senseless. We were told that life, not being a word or sentence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-cooper/for-many-years-questions-about-the-meaning-of-life-were-dismissed-as/) [David E. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-cooper/) > [I'm very sceptical about the prospects for 'big' environmental causes - 'saving the planet', halving the world's population, ending the exploitation of animals, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-cooper/i-m-very-sceptical-about-the-prospects-for-big-environmental-causes/) [David E. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-cooper/) > [I think that Asian versions of 'ineffabilism' have an advantage over the best-known Western ones, like Schopenhauer's. They are free from the dualistic image…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-cooper/i-think-that-asian-versions-of-ineffabilism-have-an-advantage-over/) [David E. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-cooper/) > [The aim of dis-incumbence is a hubristic one, for it requires confidence in the ability of men and women to live in the belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-cooper/the-aim-of-dis-incumbence-is-a-hubristic-one-for-it-requires/) [David E. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-cooper/) > [There is no reason at all to think that creatures with very different purposes and concerns would arrive at the scientific image, and no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-cooper/there-is-no-reason-at-all-to-think-that-creatures-with-very-different/) [David E. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-cooper/) [Explore all 48 David E. 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