--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He impaired his vision by holding the…" description: "\"“He impaired his vision by holding the object too close. He might see, perhaps, one or two points with unusual clearness, but in so doing he, necessari..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/edgar-allan-poe-315_dreams_he-impaired-his-vision-by-holding-the-ob_2945273.jpg" --- # He impaired his vision by holding the object too close. He… ![“He impaired his vision by holding the object too close. He might see, perhaps, one or two points with unusual clearness, but in so doing he, necessarily, lost sight of the matter as a whole. Thus there is such a thing as being too profound. Truth is not always in a well. In fact, as regards the…” quote by Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/edgar-allan-poe-315_dreams_he-impaired-his-vision-by-holding-the-ob_2945273.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/edgar-allan-poe-315_dreams_he-impaired-his-vision-by-holding-the-ob_2945273.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4be/edgar-allan-poe-315_dreams_he-impaired-his-vision-by-holding-the-ob_2945273.jpg) > ““He impaired his vision by holding the object too close. He might see, perhaps, one or two points with unusual clearness, but in so doing he, necessarily, lost sight of the matter as a whole. Thus there is such a thing as being too profound. Truth is not always in a well. In fact, as regards the more important knowledge, I do believe that she is invariably superficial. The depth lies in the valleys where we seek her, and not upon the mountain-tops where she is found.”” [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Excessive focus on detail blinds one to the larger picture; true knowledge often lies in simplicity, not in over‑analysis. **In simple terms:** Too much detail hides the whole truth. Key Takeaway Balance detail with big‑picture view. Themes knowledge perception depth simplicity Mood thoughtful analytical cautious Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - research - education - problem solving Key Concepts philosophy cognitive bias epistemology Questions to Reflect On - When does simplicity become a flaw? - How can we avoid missing the forest for the trees? A Different Perspective Over‑simplification can miss nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Profound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profound/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [Truth is not always in a well. In fact, as regards the more important knowledge, I do believe that she is invariably superficial. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/truth-is-not-always-in-a-well-in-fact-as-regards-the-more-important/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“I believed, and still do believe, that truth, is frequently of its own essence, superficial, and that, in many cases, the depth lies more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/i-believed-and-still-do-believe-that-truth-is-frequently-of-its-own/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [In other words, I believed, and still do believe, that truth, is frequently of its own essence, superficial, and that, in many cases, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/in-other-words-i-believed-and-still-do-believe-that-truth-is/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [The depth lies in the valleys where we seek her, and not upon the mountain-tops where she is found.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-depth-lies-in-the-valleys-where-we-seek-her-and-not-upon-the/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“It's one thing to have a profound experience, and it's quite another to kill a lie that's served you a long time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-s-lynch/it-s-one-thing-to-have-a-profound-experience-and-it-s-quite-another/) [John S. Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-s-lynch/) > [When you lost sight of your path, listen for the destination in your heart (Allen Walker, D-gray Man)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katsura-hoshino/when-you-lost-sight-of-your-path-listen-for-the-destination-in-your/) [Katsura Hoshino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katsura-hoshino/) > [When a nation goes down, or a society perishes, one condition may always be found; they forgot where they came from. They lost sight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sandburg/when-a-nation-goes-down-or-a-society-perishes-one-condition-may/) [Carl Sandburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sandburg/) > [We've lost sight of our role in the region and our view of our colleagues in the region.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hewson/we-ve-lost-sight-of-our-role-in-the-region-and-our-view-of-our/) [John Hewson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hewson/) > [Actually, being blind is not so bad. If you're born this way, you never know anything else and you don't wonder about it. Though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-feliciano/actually-being-blind-is-not-so-bad-if-you-re-born-this-way-you-never/) [Jose Feliciano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-feliciano/) > [I was a daredevil before, and after I lost my sight I was the same. I loved riding bikes, scooters and horses. I even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-bocelli/i-was-a-daredevil-before-and-after-i-lost-my-sight-i-was-the-same-i/) [Andrea Bocelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-bocelli/) > [Having lost sight of our objectives, we redoubled our efforts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-kelly/having-lost-sight-of-our-objectives-we-redoubled-our-efforts/) [Walt Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-kelly/) > [“Who do you become when you've lost sight of who you are but the false you isn't one you can pretend to be anymore?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-mccarthy/who-do-you-become-when-you-ve-lost-sight-of-who-you-are-but-the-false/) [Erin McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-mccarthy/) > [“We've lost sight of How simple the task Really is— Hunt. Gather. Live. It's all been overly simplified In a complicated way. Now we're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-lynn-blumer/we-ve-lost-sight-of-how-simple-the-task-really-is-hunt-gather-live-it/) A. Lynn Blumer > [“she’d lost sight of the person she’d once meant to be, and she wasn’t sure she’d ever have the opportunity to find that person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/she-d-lost-sight-of-the-person-she-d-once-meant-to-be-and-she-wasn-t/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [I had a goal. I was on a mission. And somewhere along the line I lost sight of what I was supposed to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riddick-bowe/i-had-a-goal-i-was-on-a-mission-and-somewhere-along-the-line-i-lost/) [Riddick Bowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/riddick-bowe/) ## More by Edgar Allan Poe > [“From childhood’s hour I have not been As others were—I have not seen As others saw—I could not bring My passions from a common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/from-childhood-s-hour-i-have-not-been-as-others-were-i-have-not-seen/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [There is no passion in nature so demoniacally impatient, as that of him who, shuddering upon the edge of a precipice, thus meditates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/there-is-no-passion-in-nature-so-demoniacally-impatient-as-that-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [To vilify a great man is the readiest way in which a little man can himself attain greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/to-vilify-a-great-man-is-the-readiest-way-in-which-a-little-man-can/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“A skillful literary artist has constructed a tale. If wise, he has not fashioned his thoughts to accommodate his incidents; but having conceived, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/a-skillful-literary-artist-has-constructed-a-tale-if-wise-he-has-not/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“For eyes we have no models in the remotely antique.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/for-eyes-we-have-no-models-in-the-remotely-antique/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/during-the-whole-of-a-dull-dark-and-soundless-day-in-the-autumn-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/those-who-dream-by-day-are-cognizant-of-many-things-that-escape-those/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“I have said that the sole effect of my somewhat childish experiment—that of looking down within the tarn—had been to deepen the first singular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/i-have-said-that-the-sole-effect-of-my-somewhat-childish-experiment/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [And all my days are trances, And all my nightly dreams Are where thy dark eye glances, And where thy footstep gleams-- In what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/and-all-my-days-are-trances-and-all-my-nightly-dreams-are-where-thy/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“Other friends have flown before — On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.” Quoth the raven, “Nevermore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/other-friends-have-flown-before-on-the-morrow-he-will-leave-me-as-my/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“To the right and left, as far as the eye could reach, there lay outstretched, like ramparts of the world, lines of horridly black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/to-the-right-and-left-as-far-as-the-eye-could-reach-there-lay/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Men die nightly in their beds, wringing the hands of ghostly confessors ... on account of the hideousness of mysteries which will not suffer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/men-die-nightly-in-their-beds-wringing-the-hands-of-ghostly/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [And the Raven, never flitting, Still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas Just above my chamber door; And his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/and-the-raven-never-flitting-still-is-sitting-still-is-sitting-on-the/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [I was forced to fall back upon the unsatisfactory conclusion, that while, beyond doubt, there are combinations of very simple natural objects which have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/i-was-forced-to-fall-back-upon-the-unsatisfactory-conclusion-that/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise but i feel the bright…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/for-the-moon-never-beams-without-bringing-me-dreams-of-the-beautiful/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) [Explore all 615 Edgar Allan Poe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) ## More Dreams quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“Once we become sensitive to dreams, we discover that every dynamic in a dream is manifesting itself in some way in our practical lives”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-johnson/once-we-become-sensitive-to-dreams-we-discover-that-every-dynamic-in/) [Robert A. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-johnson/) > [“Now you’re wet. You’re so wet you’re leaking down your ass. You’re soaking my pillow. I don’t think I’m ever washing it. I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-stoker/now-you-re-wet-you-re-so-wet-you-re-leaking-down-your-ass-you-re/) [Susan Stoker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-stoker/) > [“Not that it matters, when you dream, there's no outside or in. Your mind is an unimaginable bloom. A willow catkin as big as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-shapero/not-that-it-matters-when-you-dream-there-s-no-outside-or-in-your-mind/) [Rich Shapero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-shapero/) > [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/) [Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [“As dreams are the healing songs from the wilderness of our unconscious - So wild animals, wild plants, wild landscapes are the healing dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-pendell/as-dreams-are-the-healing-songs-from-the-wilderness-of-our/) [Dale Pendell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-pendell/) > [Alone in a world, With millions of souls Walking in circles Trapped in their dreams unhealthy, unclean walking in circles, now do not disturb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-bennington/alone-in-a-world-with-millions-of-souls-walking-in-circles-trapped-in/) [Chester Bennington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-bennington/) > [“Doing the work to transform your dreams into reality is like walking across the earth. It can be that hard, and it can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dragos-bratasanu/doing-the-work-to-transform-your-dreams-into-reality-is-like-walking/) [Dragos Bratasanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dragos-bratasanu/) > [As far as Im concerned, I didnt dream - ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-sturgeon/as-far-as-im-concerned-i-didnt-dream-ever/) [Theodore Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-sturgeon/) > [I guess, it's a father's dream for his daughter to be known around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liza-soberano/i-guess-it-s-a-father-s-dream-for-his-daughter-to-be-known-around-the/) [Liza Soberano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liza-soberano/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Sometimes life seems like a dream, especially when I look down and see that I forgot to put on my pants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/sometimes-life-seems-like-a-dream-especially-when-i-look-down-and-see/) [Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/) > [“I had a dream. I had an awesome dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-had-a-dream-i-had-an-awesome-dream/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 40,599 Dreams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He impaired his vision by holding the object too close. He might see, perhaps, one or two points with unusual clearness, but in so doing he, necessarily, lost sight of the matter as a whole. Thus there is such a thing as being too profound. Truth is not always in a well. In fact, as regards the more important knowledge, I do believe that she is invariably superficial. 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