---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Water drinkers perceive nothing but the…"
description: "\"“Water drinkers perceive nothing but the crude and material appearance of things, while intoxication, on the contrary, dulls the eyes of the body and b..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/g-rard-de-nerval-14793_mmm_water-drinkers-perceive-nothing-but-the_1250342.jpg"
---

#  Water drinkers perceive nothing but the crude and material…

![“Water drinkers perceive nothing but the crude and material appearance of things, while intoxication, on the contrary, dulls the eyes of the body and brightens those of the soul.” quote by Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/g-rard-de-nerval-14793_mmm_water-drinkers-perceive-nothing-but-the_1250342.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/g-rard-de-nerval-14793_mmm_water-drinkers-perceive-nothing-but-the_1250342.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/g-rard-de-nerval-14793_mmm_water-drinkers-perceive-nothing-but-the_1250342.jpg)

> ““Water drinkers perceive nothing but the crude and material appearance of things, while intoxication, on the contrary, dulls the eyes of the body and brightens those of the soul.””

[Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Physical intoxication distracts the body while allowing the soul to perceive deeper truths.

**In simple terms:** Intoxication dulls the body’s senses but sharpens the soul’s insight.

Key Takeaway

Seek clarity without relying on substances.

Themes

perception spirituality intoxication mindfulness truth

Mood

thoughtful introspective

Type

philosophical spiritual

When to use this quote

- artistic creation
- philosophical contemplation
- rituals
- personal insight

Key Concepts

dualism sensory vs spiritual perception altered states

Questions to Reflect On

- Do you rely on external means for insight?
- What non‑chemical practices deepen your awareness?

A Different Perspective

Substance use can impair judgment and health.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Intoxication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intoxication/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/)

## Related quotes

> [“Your soul rages. You cannot control your spirits within your body, so you need this to force others to your will." The king stepped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-hickman-laura-hickman/your-soul-rages-you-cannot-control-your-spirits-within-your-body-so/)

Tracy Hickman Laura Hickman

> [No poems can please for long or live that are written by water drinkers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/no-poems-can-please-for-long-or-live-that-are-written-by-water/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [No poems can please long or live that are written by water drinkers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/no-poems-can-please-long-or-live-that-are-written-by-water-drinkers/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [“Even as it clouds our corporeal vision, intoxication clarifies our spiritual vision. The mind, set free from the heavy bondage of the body, flees…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/even-as-it-clouds-our-corporeal-vision-intoxication-clarifies-our/)

[Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

> [You are the Essence of the Essence, The intoxication of Love. I long to sing Your Praises but stand mute with the agony of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/you-are-the-essence-of-the-essence-the-intoxication-of-love-i-long-to/)

[Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/)

> [“What are reason and sobriety without the knowledge of intoxication?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/what-are-reason-and-sobriety-without-the-knowledge-of-intoxication/)

[Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/)

> [The intoxication of the faro drinker only shows itself at first by an increase in noise which is only deafening, and finally by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/the-intoxication-of-the-faro-drinker-only-shows-itself-at-first-by-an/)

[Gerard De Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

> [“How is intoxication (that “I Know”, “I am something”) recognized? It is when one says, ‘Yours is wrong’.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/how-is-intoxication-that-i-know-i-am-something-recognized-it-is-when/)

[Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/)

> [Every new generation in its hour of dawn, filled with the dreams of youth, its thirsts, intoxications and enthusiasms, thinks itself called upon to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignacy-jan-paderewski/every-new-generation-in-its-hour-of-dawn-filled-with-the-dreams-of/)

[Ignacy Jan Paderewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignacy-jan-paderewski/)

> [“If you have gotten bored with God, you have gotten disconnected with the most fascinating, intoxicating Person in the universe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-toon/if-you-have-gotten-bored-with-god-you-have-gotten-disconnected-with/)

[Catherine Toon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-toon/)

> [For even the most childish intoxication with progress will soon be forced to recognize that writing and books have a function that is eternal.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/for-even-the-most-childish-intoxication-with-progress-will-soon-be/)

[Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/)

> [Exultation is the going Of an inland soul to sea Past the houses, past the headlands Into deep eternity! Bred as we, among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/exultation-is-the-going-of-an-inland-soul-to-sea-past-the-houses-past/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [The delight in natural things - colors, forms, scents - when there was nothing to restrain or hamper it, has often been a kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/the-delight-in-natural-things-colors-forms-scents-when-there-was/)

[Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/)

> [“Ô, Wanderess, Wanderess When did you feel your most euphoric kiss? Was I the source of your greatest bliss?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/wanderess-wanderess-when-did-you-feel-your-most-euphoric-kiss-was-i/)

[Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/)

> [I have sometimes thought that the laws ought not to punish those actions of evil which are committed when the senses are steeped in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/i-have-sometimes-thought-that-the-laws-ought-not-to-punish-those/)

[Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/)

## More by Gérard de Nerval

> [“What is madness...to go on platonically loving a woman who will never love you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/what-is-madness-to-go-on-platonically-loving-a-woman-who-will-never/)

[Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

> [“How lovely she was in her raiments of silk and levantine purple; the fabric provocatively set off the sheen of her white shoulders, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/how-lovely-she-was-in-her-raiments-of-silk-and-levantine-purple-the/)

[Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

> [“My brow still burns from the kiss of the queen; I have dreamed in the grotto where the siren swims . . .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/my-brow-still-burns-from-the-kiss-of-the-queen-i-have-dreamed-in-the/)

[Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

> [“Don’t wait up for me tonight, for the night will be black and white.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/don-t-wait-up-for-me-tonight-for-the-night-will-be-black-and-white/)

[Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

> [“Illusions fall away one after another like the husks of a fruit, and that fruit is experience. It is bitter to the taste, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/illusions-fall-away-one-after-another-like-the-husks-of-a-fruit-and/)

[Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

> [“Sleep occupies a third of our life. It is the consolation to the woes of our days or the woe of their pleasures; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/sleep-occupies-a-third-of-our-life-it-is-the-consolation-to-the-woes/)

[Gerard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

> [The intoxication of the faro drinker only shows itself at first by an increase in noise which is only deafening, and finally by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/the-intoxication-of-the-faro-drinker-only-shows-itself-at-first-by-an/)

[Gerard De Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

> [Man, do you think yours is the only soul? Look around you. Everything that you see quivers with being. Though your thoughts are free,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/man-do-you-think-yours-is-the-only-soul-look-around-you-everything/)

[Gerard De Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

> [God is dead!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/god-is-dead/)

[Gerard De Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

> [“The last madness I’ll probably persist in is to believe myself a poet: it will be up to the critics to cure me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/the-last-madness-i-ll-probably-persist-in-is-to-believe-myself-a-poet/)

[Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

> [“It is impossible for a Parisian to resist the desire to flick through the old volumes laid out by a bookseller. \[ Il est…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/it-is-impossible-for-a-parisian-to-resist-the-desire-to-flick-through/)

[Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

> [İstanbul is a magical seal which unites Europe and Asia since the ancient times. Without a doubt, Istanbul is certainly the most beautiful place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/i-stanbul-is-a-magical-seal-which-unites-europe-and-asia-since-the/)

[Gerard De Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

> [“Everything is alive, everything is in motion, everything corresponds; the magnetic rays that emanate from me or from others flow directly through the infinite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/everything-is-alive-everything-is-in-motion-everything-corresponds/)

[Gérard de Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

> [How have I been able to live so long outside Nature without identifying myself with it? Everything lives, moves, everything corresponds; the magnetic rays,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/how-have-i-been-able-to-live-so-long-outside-nature-without/)

[Gerard De Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

> [I have always differentiated between two types of friends; those who want proofs of friendship, and those who do not. One kind loves me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/i-have-always-differentiated-between-two-types-of-friends-those-who/)

[Gerard De Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

[Explore all 40 Gérard de Nerval quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

## More Intoxication quotes

> [I have sometimes thought that the laws ought not to punish those actions of evil which are committed when the senses are steeped in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/i-have-sometimes-thought-that-the-laws-ought-not-to-punish-those/)

[Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/)

> [“Ô, Wanderess, Wanderess When did you feel your most euphoric kiss? Was I the source of your greatest bliss?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/wanderess-wanderess-when-did-you-feel-your-most-euphoric-kiss-was-i/)

[Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/)

> [The delight in natural things - colors, forms, scents - when there was nothing to restrain or hamper it, has often been a kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-augusta-ward/the-delight-in-natural-things-colors-forms-scents-when-there-was/)

[Mary Augusta Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-augusta-ward/)

> [Exultation is the going Of an inland soul to sea Past the houses, past the headlands Into deep eternity! Bred as we, among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/exultation-is-the-going-of-an-inland-soul-to-sea-past-the-houses-past/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [For even the most childish intoxication with progress will soon be forced to recognize that writing and books have a function that is eternal.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/for-even-the-most-childish-intoxication-with-progress-will-soon-be/)

[Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/)

> [“If you have gotten bored with God, you have gotten disconnected with the most fascinating, intoxicating Person in the universe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-toon/if-you-have-gotten-bored-with-god-you-have-gotten-disconnected-with/)

[Catherine Toon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-toon/)

> [Every new generation in its hour of dawn, filled with the dreams of youth, its thirsts, intoxications and enthusiasms, thinks itself called upon to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignacy-jan-paderewski/every-new-generation-in-its-hour-of-dawn-filled-with-the-dreams-of/)

[Ignacy Jan Paderewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignacy-jan-paderewski/)

> [“How is intoxication (that “I Know”, “I am something”) recognized? It is when one says, ‘Yours is wrong’.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/how-is-intoxication-that-i-know-i-am-something-recognized-it-is-when/)

[Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/)

> [The intoxication of the faro drinker only shows itself at first by an increase in noise which is only deafening, and finally by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/the-intoxication-of-the-faro-drinker-only-shows-itself-at-first-by-an/)

[Gerard De Nerval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/)

> [“What are reason and sobriety without the knowledge of intoxication?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/what-are-reason-and-sobriety-without-the-knowledge-of-intoxication/)

[Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/)

> [You are the Essence of the Essence, The intoxication of Love. I long to sing Your Praises but stand mute with the agony of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/you-are-the-essence-of-the-essence-the-intoxication-of-love-i-long-to/)

[Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/)

> [Happiness is like the first blissful intoxication of morphine.It doesn't last very long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-kay/happiness-is-like-the-first-blissful-intoxication-of-morphine-it/)

[Susan Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-kay/)

> [The states in which we infuse a transfiguration and a fullness into things and poetize about them until they reflect back our fullness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-states-in-which-we-infuse-a-transfiguration-and-a-fullness-into/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [“We are fulfilled only when we aspire to nothing, when we are impregnated by that nothing to the point of intoxication.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/we-are-fulfilled-only-when-we-aspire-to-nothing-when-we-are/)

[Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/)

> [ After fulfilling its destructive urge towards everything that is noble and good on earth, it \[naive Religion\] sketches, in its opium intoxication, a picture… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-bauer/after-fulfilling-its-destructive-urge-towards-everything-that-is/)

[Bruno Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-bauer/)

[Browse all 180 Intoxication quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intoxication/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Water drinkers perceive nothing but the crude and material appearance of things, while intoxication, on the contrary, dulls the eyes of the body and brightens those of the soul.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Gérard de Nerval"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/water-drinkers-perceive-nothing-but-the-crude-and-material-appearance/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Intoxication"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/water-drinkers-perceive-nothing-but-the-crude-and-material-appearance/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/g-rard-de-nerval-14793_mmm_water-drinkers-perceive-nothing-but-the_1250342.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/g-rard-de-nerval-14793_mmm_water-drinkers-perceive-nothing-but-the_1250342.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/g-rard-de-nerval-14793_mmm_water-drinkers-perceive-nothing-but-the_1250342.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Water drinkers perceive nothing but the crude and material appearance of things, while intoxication, on the…” — Gérard de Nerval",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Gérard de Nerval",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-rard-de-nerval/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Water drinkers perceive nothing but the...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/water-drinkers-perceive-nothing-but-the-crude-and-material-appearance/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-rard-de-nerval/water-drinkers-perceive-nothing-but-the-crude-and-material-appearance/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```