--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Only through the medium of the public…" description: "\"Only through the medium of the public physical world can the mind of one person make a difference to the mind of another. The mind is in its own place ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e1/gilbert-ryle-24471_blind_only-through-the-medium-of-the-public-ph_918548.png" --- # Only through the medium of the public physical world can… ![“Only through the medium of the public physical world can the mind of one person make a difference to the mind of another. The mind is in its own place and in each of us lies an inner life, the life of a ghostly Robinson Crusoe. People can see, hear, and jolt one another's bodies, but they are…” quote by Gilbert Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e1/gilbert-ryle-24471_blind_only-through-the-medium-of-the-public-ph_918548.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e1/gilbert-ryle-24471_blind_only-through-the-medium-of-the-public-ph_918548.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e1/gilbert-ryle-24471_blind_only-through-the-medium-of-the-public-ph_918548.png) > “Only through the medium of the public physical world can the mind of one person make a difference to the mind of another. The mind is in its own place and in each of us lies an inner life, the life of a ghostly Robinson Crusoe. People can see, hear, and jolt one another's bodies, but they are irremediably blind and deaf to the workings of one another's minds” [Gilbert Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-ryle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The mind influences others only through physical interaction; inner thoughts remain inaccessible to each other. **In simple terms:** Minds affect each other only via the body; inner life stays hidden. Key Takeaway Recognize limits of empathy and communication. Themes philosophy mind communication solitude Mood reflective thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - teaching - public speaking - conflict resolution - team building Key Concepts Cartesian dualism social interaction privacy Questions to Reflect On - How can we bridge the gap between inner thoughts and outward actions? - What role does empathy play when minds are opaque? A Different Perspective Physical interaction cannot fully convey inner experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Deaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deaf/) [Difference Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difference-mind-1403592/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Inner life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inner-life/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Making a difference](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-a-difference/) [Mediums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mediums/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mind Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-mind-366015/) [Mind Person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-person-433376/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Robinson crusoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/robinson-crusoe/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Once in a while it vanishes - in the sense that I become deaf to beauty for a week or two or three. 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An…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-can-be-no-doubt-that-the-difference-between-the-mind-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The difference between your mind and your heart is that your mind tells you what's smart to do and your heart what you're gonna…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernajoy-vaal/the-difference-between-your-mind-and-your-heart-is-that-your-mind/) [Bernajoy Vaal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernajoy-vaal/) > [There is a great difference between mind and body insomuch as body is by nature always divisible, and the mind is entirely indivisible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/there-is-a-great-difference-between-mind-and-body-insomuch-as-body-is/) [Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [“As my father explained after we’d finished, the point of the exercise was to recognize that there really is no difference between the mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yongey-mingyur/as-my-father-explained-after-we-d-finished-the-point-of-the-exercise/) [Yongey Mingyur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yongey-mingyur/) > [The difference between your mind and your heart: Your mind tells you what is smart and your heart tells you what you're going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-difference-between-your-mind-and-your-heart-your-mind-tells-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The difference between mind and brain is not a difference of quality, but a difference of arrangement. It is like the difference between arranging…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/the-difference-between-mind-and-brain-is-not-a-difference-of-quality/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“There is one difference between mind power and prayer, however, in that subscription to a specific religion, if at all, is not required.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-richards/there-is-one-difference-between-mind-power-and-prayer-however-in-that/) [Stephen Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-richards/) > [What makes a difference is when we take our mind and put it into the scriptures, when we read the Buddhist Canon, the Pali…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/what-makes-a-difference-is-when-we-take-our-mind-and-put-it-into-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Progress is often equal to the difference between mind and mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-r-narayana-murthy/progress-is-often-equal-to-the-difference-between-mind-and-mindset/) [N. R. Narayana Murthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-r-narayana-murthy/) > [There is no fundamental difference between man and the higher mammals in their mental faculties...The difference in mind between man and the higher animals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/there-is-no-fundamental-difference-between-man-and-the-higher-mammals/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [From a human point of view, the difference between the mind of a human and that of a mountain goat is wonderful; from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/from-a-human-point-of-view-the-difference-between-the-mind-of-a-human/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [My parents know I am not normal but it doesn't make a difference in their mind whether I am or I am not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rosenthal/my-parents-know-i-am-not-normal-but-it-doesn-t-make-a-difference-in/) [Tom Rosenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rosenthal/) > [The difference between mind and brain is that brain deals only with memorized, subjective, special-case experiences and objective experiments, while mind extracts and employs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/the-difference-between-mind-and-brain-is-that-brain-deals-only-with/) [R. 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He might, after all, be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-ryle/man-need-not-be-degraded-to-a-machine-by-being-denied-to-be-a-ghost/) [Gilbert Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-ryle/) > [In searching for the self, one cannot simultaneously be the hunter and the hunted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-ryle/in-searching-for-the-self-one-cannot-simultaneously-be-the-hunter-and/) [Gilbert Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-ryle/) > [A myth is, of course, not a fairy story. 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As thus represented, minds are not merely ghosts harnessed to machines, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-ryle/minds-are-not-bits-of-clockwork-they-are-just-bits-of-not-clockwork/) [Gilbert Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-ryle/) > [When two terms belong to the same category, it is proper to construct conjunctive propositions embodying them. Thus a purchaser may say that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-ryle/when-two-terms-belong-to-the-same-category-it-is-proper-to-construct/) [Gilbert Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-ryle/) > [So too Plato was, in my view, a very unreliable Platonist. He was too much of a philosopher to think that anything he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-ryle/so-too-plato-was-in-my-view-a-very-unreliable-platonist-he-was-too/) [Gilbert Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-ryle/) > [To see is one thing; to picture or visualise is another. 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