--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Philosophy is a more intense sort of…" description: "\"Philosophy is a more intense sort of experience than common life is, just as pure and subtle music, heard in retirement, is something keener and more i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6e/george-santayana-478_cities_philosophy-is-a-more-intense-sort-of-exp_2970401.png" --- # Philosophy is a more intense sort of experience than… ![“Philosophy is a more intense sort of experience than common life is, just as pure and subtle music, heard in retirement, is something keener and more intense than the howling of storms or the rumble of cities.” quote by George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6e/george-santayana-478_cities_philosophy-is-a-more-intense-sort-of-exp_2970401.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6e/george-santayana-478_cities_philosophy-is-a-more-intense-sort-of-exp_2970401.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6e/george-santayana-478_cities_philosophy-is-a-more-intense-sort-of-exp_2970401.png) > “Philosophy is a more intense sort of experience than common life is, just as pure and subtle music, heard in retirement, is something keener and more intense than the howling of storms or the rumble of cities.” [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Deep experiences, like music, can be more nuanced and profound than everyday life or noisy environments. **In simple terms:** Deep experiences are richer than ordinary life. Key Takeaway Seek depth in experiences. Themes beauty philosophy experience Mood contemplative thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - listening to music - retirement - art appreciation - quiet contemplation Key Concepts aesthetics existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What moments have felt more profound than daily routine? - How can you cultivate deeper appreciation? A Different Perspective Not everyone can access such refined experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [Intense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intense/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Retirement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/retirement/) ## Related quotes > [Simple exchanges can break down walls between us, for when people come together and speak to one another and share a common experience, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/simple-exchanges-can-break-down-walls-between-us-for-when-people-come/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [What Artistic and Scientific Experience Have in Common - Where the world ceases to be the scene of our personal hopes and wishes, where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/what-artistic-and-scientific-experience-have-in-common-where-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Music has a great power for bringing people together. With so many forces in this world acting to drive wedges between people, it's important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/music-has-a-great-power-for-bringing-people-together-with-so-many/) [Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/) > [“I do not know how far my experience is common. At times I suffer from the strangest sense of detachment from myself and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells-2/i-do-not-know-how-far-my-experience-is-common-at-times-i-suffer-from/) [H.G. 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May my eyes never see and my feet never take me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sankara/comrades-there-is-no-true-social-revolution-without-the-liberation-of/) [Thomas Sankara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sankara/) ## More by George Santayana > [Perhaps the universe is nothing but an equilibrium of idiocies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/perhaps-the-universe-is-nothing-but-an-equilibrium-of-idiocies/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The combative instinct is a savage prompting by which one man's good is found in another's evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-combative-instinct-is-a-savage-prompting-by-which-one-man-s-good/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Sanctity and genius are as rebellious as vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/sanctity-and-genius-are-as-rebellious-as-vice/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [To attempt to be religious without practicing a specific religion is as possible as attempting to speak without a specific language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/to-attempt-to-be-religious-without-practicing-a-specific-religion-is/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [“The contemporary world has turned its back on the attempt and even on the desire to live reasonably.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-contemporary-world-has-turned-its-back-on-the-attempt-and-even-on/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The pride of the artisan in his art and its uses is pride in himself...It is in his skill and ability to make things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-pride-of-the-artisan-in-his-art-and-its-uses-is-pride-in-himself/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [If pain could have cured us we should long ago have been saved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/if-pain-could-have-cured-us-we-should-long-ago-have-been-saved/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Towers in a modern town are a frill and a survival; they seem like the raised hands of the various churches, afraid of being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/towers-in-a-modern-town-are-a-frill-and-a-survival-they-seem-like-the/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Wealth, religion, military victory have more rhetorical than efficacious worth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/wealth-religion-military-victory-have-more-rhetorical-than/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Whoever it was who searched the heavens with a telescope and found no God would not have found the human mind if he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/whoever-it-was-who-searched-the-heavens-with-a-telescope-and-found-no/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [It is easier to make a saint out of a libertine than out of a prig.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/it-is-easier-to-make-a-saint-out-of-a-libertine-than-out-of-a-prig/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Experience is a mere whiff or rumble, produced by enormously complex and ill-deciphered causes of experience; and in the other direction, experience is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/experience-is-a-mere-whiff-or-rumble-produced-by-enormously-complex/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Miracles are propitious accidents, the natural causes of which are too complicated to be readily understood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/miracles-are-propitious-accidents-the-natural-causes-of-which-are-too/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Memory itself is an internal rumour; and when to this hearsay within the mind we add the falsified echoes that reach us from others,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/memory-itself-is-an-internal-rumour-and-when-to-this-hearsay-within/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Familiarity breeds contempt only when it breeds inattention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/familiarity-breeds-contempt-only-when-it-breeds-inattention/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) [Explore all 530 George Santayana quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) ## More Cities quotes > [Public infrastructure around the world is facing unprecedented stress, with hurricanes, cyclones, floods and forest fires all increasing in frequency and intensity. 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I was so excited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greta-gerwig/i-didn-t-know-the-city-at-all-but-i-was-so-happy-to-be-in-new-york-i/) [Greta Gerwig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greta-gerwig/) > [Outside of Paris, there is no hope for the cultured.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/outside-of-paris-there-is-no-hope-for-the-cultured/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. 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I knew -- the moon's picture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-was-too-tired-to-think-i-merely-felt-the-town-as-a-unique-unreality/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 7,153 Cities quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Philosophy is a more intense sort of experience than common life is, just as pure and subtle music, heard in retirement, is something keener and more intense than the howling of storms or the rumble of cities.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Santayana" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/philosophy-is-a-more-intense-sort-of-experience-than-common-life-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cities" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/philosophy-is-a-more-intense-sort-of-experience-than-common-life-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6e/george-santayana-478_cities_philosophy-is-a-more-intense-sort-of-exp_2970401.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6e/george-santayana-478_cities_philosophy-is-a-more-intense-sort-of-exp_2970401.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6e/george-santayana-478_cities_philosophy-is-a-more-intense-sort-of-exp_2970401.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Philosophy is a more intense sort of experience than common life is, just as pure and subtle music, heard in…” — George Santayana", "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": "George Santayana", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Philosophy is a more intense sort...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/philosophy-is-a-more-intense-sort-of-experience-than-common-life-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/philosophy-is-a-more-intense-sort-of-experience-than-common-life-is/#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 } } ] } ```