--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everyone thinks he knows what a lettuce…" description: "\"Everyone thinks he knows what a lettuce looks like. But start to draw one and you realise the anomaly of having lived with lettuces all your life but ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/frederick-franck-13665_anomalies_everyone-thinks-he-knows-what-a-lettuce_613779.jpg" --- # Everyone thinks he knows what a lettuce looks like. But… ![“Everyone thinks he knows what a lettuce looks like. But start to draw one and you realise the anomaly of having lived with lettuces all your life but never having seen one, never having seen the semi-translucent leaves curling in their own lettuce way, never having noticed what makes a lettuce a…” quote by Frederick Franck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/frederick-franck-13665_anomalies_everyone-thinks-he-knows-what-a-lettuce_613779.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/frederick-franck-13665_anomalies_everyone-thinks-he-knows-what-a-lettuce_613779.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/frederick-franck-13665_anomalies_everyone-thinks-he-knows-what-a-lettuce_613779.jpg) > “Everyone thinks he knows what a lettuce looks like. But start to draw one and you realise the anomaly of having lived with lettuces all your life but never having seen one, never having seen the semi-translucent leaves curling in their own lettuce way, never having noticed what makes a lettuce a lettuce rather than a curly kale.” [Frederick Franck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-franck/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We often assume familiarity with common things, yet direct observation can reveal hidden complexities we never noticed. **In simple terms:** Assumed knowledge can be wrong; look closely. Key Takeaway Question assumptions by observing details. Themes perception assumption observation Mood curious reflective Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - culinary arts - education - design - science communication Key Concepts cognitive bias phenomenology Questions to Reflect On - What everyday objects have you never truly seen? - How does direct observation change understanding? A Different Perspective Our mental models may miss subtleties, leading to oversimplification. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anomalies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anomalies/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [“What bothers me today is the lack of, well, I guess you'd call it authentic experience. So much is a sham. So much is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/what-bothers-me-today-is-the-lack-of-well-i-guess-you-d-call-it/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“I backed us up against the wall. “How I feel? You want to know?” I ran my hands over his face and tangled them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jus-accardo/i-backed-us-up-against-the-wall-how-i-feel-you-want-to-know-i-ran-my/) [Jus Accardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jus-accardo/) > [“He stepped around me until he and Kale were nose to nose. Even though I knew it was the remnants of the storm, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jus-accardo/he-stepped-around-me-until-he-and-kale-were-nose-to-nose-even-though/) [Jus Accardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jus-accardo/) > [“„This is what people do here?” „It's a little more complicated than that.” „Everything seems complicated here,” he grumbled. „That"s life,” I laughed. „Life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jus-accardo/this-is-what-people-do-here-it-s-a-little-more-complicated-than-that/) [Jus Accardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jus-accardo/) > [“What kind of guy was I? My idea of fun was Dez. My eyes found hers. Spending time with her, holding her…. kissing her.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jus-accardo/what-kind-of-guy-was-i-my-idea-of-fun-was-dez-my-eyes-found-hers/) [Jus Accardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jus-accardo/) > [My refrigerator is full of kale and greens. I can't imagine something greasy, or eating meat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-anderson/my-refrigerator-is-full-of-kale-and-greens-i-can-t-imagine-something/) [Pamela Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-anderson/) > [“Called the “queen of vegetables,” kale is a powerhouse of phytonutrients and vitamins A, C and K that are excellent antioxidants. Kale contains more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-allan/called-the-queen-of-vegetables-kale-is-a-powerhouse-of-phytonutrients/) [Jenny Allan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-allan/) > [“Growing up, my mom made dinner every night. Usually this would be a large salad with kale, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, all organic of course,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/growing-up-my-mom-made-dinner-every-night-usually-this-would-be-a/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [“He's irritating." He stood and started to pull up the hem of his shirt. "And he stabbed me." Alex rolled his eyes. "And you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jus-accardo/he-s-irritating-he-stood-and-started-to-pull-up-the-hem-of-his-shirt/) [Jus Accardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jus-accardo/) > [“As I walked away, I heard Kale tell Fin to stop staring at my ass or he was going to punish him. I couldn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jus-accardo/as-i-walked-away-i-heard-kale-tell-fin-to-stop-staring-at-my-ass-or/) [Jus Accardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jus-accardo/) > [Kale is a superfood and it’s special power is tasting bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-gaffigan/kale-is-a-superfood-and-it-s-special-power-is-tasting-bad/) [Jim Gaffigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-gaffigan/) > [The balance to life is kale cakes and cupcakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe/the-balance-to-life-is-kale-cakes-and-cupcakes/) [Joe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe/) > [Come close now,' ordered Fenworth. 'Time for an exit. I think we'll whirl, Kale likes to whirl. Hold hands. Let's stay together, children. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donita-k-paul/come-close-now-ordered-fenworth-time-for-an-exit-i-think-we-ll-whirl/) [Donita K. Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donita-k-paul/) > [“If nothing else, I was a predator - and predators could sense fear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jus-accardo/if-nothing-else-i-was-a-predator-and-predators-could-sense-fear/) [Jus Accardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jus-accardo/) > [“„One down,” I said, turning to Kale. He wasn't paying attention. His gaze was fixed on the red silk baby doll in my hand.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jus-accardo/one-down-i-said-turning-to-kale-he-wasn-t-paying-attention-his-gaze/) [Jus Accardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jus-accardo/) ## More by Frederick Franck > [I have learned that what I have not drawn, I have never really seen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-franck/i-have-learned-that-what-i-have-not-drawn-i-have-never-really-seen/) [Frederick Franck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-franck/) > [Enlightenment is simply sanity~ the sanity in which I see my real situation in the living fabric of all that exists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-franck/enlightenment-is-simply-sanity-the-sanity-in-which-i-see-my-real/) [Frederick Franck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-franck/) > [It is not that things are delusory but their separateness in the fabric of the Whole that is illusory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-franck/it-is-not-that-things-are-delusory-but-their-separateness-in-the/) [Frederick Franck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-franck/) > [Innumerable Buddhas Enlightened... innumerable Christs crucified... always the same Christ, the same Buddha!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-franck/innumerable-buddhas-enlightened-innumerable-christs-crucified-always/) [Frederick Franck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-franck/) > [all at once I saw that the sun was round! Since then I have been the happiest man on Earth!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-franck/all-at-once-i-saw-that-the-sun-was-round-since-then-i-have-been-the/) [Frederick Franck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-franck/) > [We do a lot of looking: we look through lenses, telescopes, television tubes... Our looking is perfected every day, but we see less and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-franck/we-do-a-lot-of-looking-we-look-through-lenses-telescopes-television/) [Frederick Franck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-franck/) > [Do you believe in God?" "Which one?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-franck/do-you-believe-in-god-which-one/) [Frederick Franck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-franck/) > [This apple tree is not the first one I draw, but perhaps the thousandth. I feel the sap rise to its spreading branches. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-franck/this-apple-tree-is-not-the-first-one-i-draw-but-perhaps-the/) [Frederick Franck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-franck/) > [the distance between this pigeon's brain and mine is minute compared to that between mine and Bodhi 's Wisdom Compassion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-franck/the-distance-between-this-pigeon-s-brain-and-mine-is-minute-compared/) [Frederick Franck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-franck/) > [While drawing grasses I learn nothing 'about' grass, but wake up to the wonder that there is grass at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-franck/while-drawing-grasses-i-learn-nothing-about-grass-but-wake-up-to-the/) [Frederick Franck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-franck/) > [Nothing burns in hell but ego" says Tauler. Does anything live but Buddha Nature, Christ Spirit?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-franck/nothing-burns-in-hell-but-ego-says-tauler-does-anything-live-but/) [Frederick Franck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-franck/) > [The sinner's ego is crude that of the saint refined, distilled. Careful! It may be more poisonous!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-franck/the-sinner-s-ego-is-crude-that-of-the-saint-refined-distilled-careful/) [Frederick Franck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-franck/) > [In this twentieth century, to stop rushing around, to sit quietly on the grass, to switch off the world and come back to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-franck/in-this-twentieth-century-to-stop-rushing-around-to-sit-quietly-on/) [Frederick Franck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-franck/) > [People walking? Karma walking ... Buddha nature walking..!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-franck/people-walking-karma-walking-buddha-nature-walking/) [Frederick Franck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-franck/) > [They do not see what they look at, hence they know not what they do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-franck/they-do-not-see-what-they-look-at-hence-they-know-not-what-they-do/) [Frederick Franck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-franck/) [Explore all 49 Frederick Franck quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-franck/) ## More Anomalies quotes > [It is an anomaly that information, the one thing most necessary to our survival as choosers of our own way, should be a commodity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-liebling/it-is-an-anomaly-that-information-the-one-thing-most-necessary-to-our/) [A. J. Liebling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-liebling/) > [I'm definitely an anomaly, but I'm making things. They're selling, say, martinis, and I'm kind of making vintage Riesling. People aren't going to sit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-folds/i-m-definitely-an-anomaly-but-i-m-making-things-they-re-selling-say/) [Ben Folds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-folds/) > [An anomaly is not an abnormality. Diversity does not signify sickness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-canguilhem/an-anomaly-is-not-an-abnormality-diversity-does-not-signify-sickness/) [Georges Canguilhem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-canguilhem/) > [I see that women still have self-doubt, and at the same time I feel like I see all these fantastic young women, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-harron/i-see-that-women-still-have-self-doubt-and-at-the-same-time-i-feel/) [Mary Harron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-harron/) > [“It's in the anomalies that nature reveals its secrets.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/it-s-in-the-anomalies-that-nature-reveals-its-secrets/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [For me, I want to see diversity in storytelling sources because we live in a very diverse society, and the stories are for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-shelton/for-me-i-want-to-see-diversity-in-storytelling-sources-because-we/) [Lynn Shelton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-shelton/) > [Religion itself is an absurdity and an anomaly, and paganism is acceptable only because it represents that purely orgiastic phase of religion farthest from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/religion-itself-is-an-absurdity-and-an-anomaly-and-paganism-is/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [And that singular anomaly, the lady novelist-- I don't think she'd be missed--I'm sure she'd not be missed!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-gilbert/and-that-singular-anomaly-the-lady-novelist-i-don-t-think-she-d-be/) [W. S. Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-gilbert/) > [Auditioning for television shows - to find a guy who has a lot of experience as a laborer is a bit of an anomaly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-offerman/auditioning-for-television-shows-to-find-a-guy-who-has-a-lot-of/) [Nick Offerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-offerman/) > [Writing is, in the end, that oddest of anomalies: an intimate letter to a stranger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/writing-is-in-the-end-that-oddest-of-anomalies-an-intimate-letter-to/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [Anomaly is when you don't fit the expected norm. Like "wait what is this?! It doesn't belong here." Its what the system never planned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lecrae/anomaly-is-when-you-don-t-fit-the-expected-norm-like-wait-what-is/) [LeCrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lecrae/) > [When circumstances defy order, order should bend or break: anomalies and uncertainties give validity to architecture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-venturi/when-circumstances-defy-order-order-should-bend-or-break-anomalies/) [Robert Venturi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-venturi/) > [In any long string of letters, one can find countless anomalies that will seem like convincing proofs of hidden meaning to the mind that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-wittes/in-any-long-string-of-letters-one-can-find-countless-anomalies-that/) [Benjamin Wittes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-wittes/) > [In a noted 1943 Harvard study, there were no cases of toxemia, congenital anomalies, or neonatal deaths among a group of well-fed woman. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brewer/in-a-noted-1943-harvard-study-there-were-no-cases-of-toxemia/) Tom Brewer > [And knowing what happens on average is a good place to start. By so doing, we insulate ourselves from the tendency to build our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-knowing-what-happens-on-average-is-a-good-place-to-start-by-so/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 102 Anomalies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anomalies/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Everyone thinks he knows what a lettuce looks like. 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