--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What a man finds circa se or sub se is…" description: "\"“What a man finds circa se or sub se is overwhelming in amount, what he finds in se is embarassing in its obscurity, but when from his own being he wou..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93b/etienne-gilson-21565_face-to-face_what-a-man-finds-circa-se-or-sub-se-is-o_2752376.jpg" --- # What a man finds circa se or sub se is overwhelming in… ![“What a man finds circa se or sub se is overwhelming in amount, what he finds in se is embarassing in its obscurity, but when from his own being he would obtain light as to what is supra se, then indeed he finds himself face to face with a dark and somewhat terrifying mystery. The trouble is that…” quote by Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93b/etienne-gilson-21565_face-to-face_what-a-man-finds-circa-se-or-sub-se-is-o_2752376.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93b/etienne-gilson-21565_face-to-face_what-a-man-finds-circa-se-or-sub-se-is-o_2752376.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93b/etienne-gilson-21565_face-to-face_what-a-man-finds-circa-se-or-sub-se-is-o_2752376.jpg) > ““What a man finds circa se or sub se is overwhelming in amount, what he finds in se is embarassing in its obscurity, but when from his own being he would obtain light as to what is supra se, then indeed he finds himself face to face with a dark and somewhat terrifying mystery. The trouble is that he is himself involved in the mystery. If, in any true sense, man is an image of God, how should he know himself without knowing God? But if it is really of God that he is an image, how should he know himself?”” [Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human self‑knowledge is tied to divine understanding; without knowing God, true self‑knowledge is impossible. **In simple terms:** Knowing God helps know yourself. Key Takeaway Seek deeper spiritual insight for self‑understanding. Themes theology philosophy identity Mood contemplative inquisitive Type philosophical theological When to use this quote - personal meditation - theological study - ethical decision‑making - existential crisis Key Concepts ontology divine image existential mystery Questions to Reflect On - Can self‑knowledge be achieved without religious belief? - What alternative paths exist to understand oneself? A Different Perspective The argument assumes a specific religious framework, limiting universal applicability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Face to face](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/face-to-face/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Knowing god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing-god/) [Self knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-knowledge/) ## Related quotes > [Man was made in the image of God, and nothing will satisfy man but God, in whose image he was made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/man-was-made-in-the-image-of-god-and-nothing-will-satisfy-man-but-god/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Be human in this most inhuman of ages; guard the image of man for it is the image of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/be-human-in-this-most-inhuman-of-ages-guard-the-image-of-man-for-it/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Man alone is made in the image of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/man-alone-is-made-in-the-image-of-god/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Man may have been made in the image of God, but human society was made in the image of His opposite number, and is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/man-may-have-been-made-in-the-image-of-god-but-human-society-was-made/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [If man is not the image of God, then he is a disease of the dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/if-man-is-not-the-image-of-god-then-he-is-a-disease-of-the-dust/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Geometry is one and eternal shining in the mind of God. That share in it accorded to men is one of the reasons that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-kepler/geometry-is-one-and-eternal-shining-in-the-mind-of-god-that-share-in/) [Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/) > [“People today are trying to hang on to the dignity of man, but they do not know how to, because they have lost the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-a-schaeffer/people-today-are-trying-to-hang-on-to-the-dignity-of-man-but-they-do/) [Francis A. Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-a-schaeffer/) > [Every man becomes the image of the God he adores. He whose worship is directed to a dead thing becomes dead. He who loves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/every-man-becomes-the-image-of-the-god-he-adores-he-whose-worship-is/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [And Burns--though brief the race he ran, Though rough and dark the paths he trod, Lived--died--in form and soul a man, The image of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fitz-greene-halleck/and-burns-though-brief-the-race-he-ran-though-rough-and-dark-the/) [Fitz-Greene Halleck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fitz-greene-halleck/) > [God said, "Let us make man in our image." Man said, 'Let us make God in our image.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-william-jerrold/god-said-let-us-make-man-in-our-image-man-said-let-us-make-god-in-our/) [Douglas William Jerrold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-william-jerrold/) > [“It’s often said that God made man in His own image, it’s also true that man makes God in his own image.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-k-narayan/it-s-often-said-that-god-made-man-in-his-own-image-it-s-also-true/) [R.K. Narayan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-k-narayan/) > [“God didn’t create man in His image, rather we create God in our image.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-adamson/god-didn-t-create-man-in-his-image-rather-we-create-god-in-our-image/) [Peter Adamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-adamson/) > [“I am made in the image of God. Therefore, if I don’t know God I can’t know me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/i-am-made-in-the-image-of-god-therefore-if-i-don-t-know-god-i-can-t/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [“Early on in the Bible story, we will discover the devil taking on the form of an animal. At the center of the Bible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-s-smith/early-on-in-the-bible-story-we-will-discover-the-devil-taking-on-the/) [Colin S. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-s-smith/) > [“We are what we love. If we love God, in whose image we were created, we discover ourselves in him and we cannot help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/we-are-what-we-love-if-we-love-god-in-whose-image-we-were-created-we/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) ## More by Étienne Gilson > [History is the only laboratory we have in which to test the consequences of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/history-is-the-only-laboratory-we-have-in-which-to-test-the/) [Etienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/) > [“Modern man, brought up on Kantian idealism, regards nature as being no more than an outcome of the laws of the mind. Losing all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/modern-man-brought-up-on-kantian-idealism-regards-nature-as-being-no/) [Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/) > [“The Middle Ages were long preoccupied with the nature of the concept, or of the notion which the intellect abstracts from the object; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/the-middle-ages-were-long-preoccupied-with-the-nature-of-the-concept/) [Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/) > [Humans feel at home in a world of things, whose essences and laws it can grasp and define in terms of concepts; but shy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/humans-feel-at-home-in-a-world-of-things-whose-essences-and-laws-it/) [Etienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/) > [Radiance belongs to being considered precisely as beautiful: it is, in being, that which catches the eye, or the ear, or the mind, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/radiance-belongs-to-being-considered-precisely-as-beautiful-it-is-in/) [Etienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/) > [“When man subverted order he did a great deal more than merely fall away from the rationality of his nature, diminish his own humanity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/when-man-subverted-order-he-did-a-great-deal-more-than-merely-fall/) [Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/) > [“Just as it is by His goodness that God gives being to beings, so also it is by His goodness that He makes causes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/just-as-it-is-by-his-goodness-that-god-gives-being-to-beings-so-also/) [Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/) > [To minds tormented by the divine thirst, it is useless to offer the most certain knowledge of the laws of numbers and the arrangement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/to-minds-tormented-by-the-divine-thirst-it-is-useless-to-offer-the/) [Etienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/) > [“As long as one makes some kind of conscious state, whether a “passive sensation” or an “apprehended”, come before reality, one will remain more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/as-long-as-one-makes-some-kind-of-conscious-state-whether-a-passive/) [Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/) > [Man is not a mind that thinks, but a being who knows other beings as true, who loves them as good and who enjoys…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/man-is-not-a-mind-that-thinks-but-a-being-who-knows-other-beings-as/) [Etienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/) > [If our previous analyses are correct, they all point to the same conclusion, that metaphysical adventures are doomed to fail when their authors substitute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/if-our-previous-analyses-are-correct-they-all-point-to-the-same/) [Etienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/) > [“But if one decides to start with Descartes and finish with Aristotle, and to employ an idealist method while shamelessly making use of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/but-if-one-decides-to-start-with-descartes-and-finish-with-aristotle/) [Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/) > [“What is necessary is that epistemology, instead of being the pre-condition for ontology, should grow in it and with it, being at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/what-is-necessary-is-that-epistemology-instead-of-being-the-pre/) [Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/) > [“Pure sensism leads inevitably to universal doubt; if reality is in the end reducible to sensible appearance, then, since this is in a state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/pure-sensism-leads-inevitably-to-universal-doubt-if-reality-is-in-the/) [Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/) > [“If pure philosophy took any of its ideas from Christian revelation, if anything in the Bible and the Gospel has passed into metaphysics, if,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etienne-gilson/if-pure-philosophy-took-any-of-its-ideas-from-christian-revelation-if/) [Étienne Gilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/) [Explore all 29 Étienne Gilson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etienne-gilson/) ## More Face to face quotes > [Sometimes we have the absolute certainty there's something inside us that's so hideous and monstrous that if we ever search it out we won't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-selby-jr/sometimes-we-have-the-absolute-certainty-there-s-something-inside-us/) [Hubert Selby, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-selby-jr/) > [A man may quarrel with himself alone; 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