--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I believe that nothing can be more…" description: "\"I believe that nothing can be more abstract, more unreal, than what we actually see. We know that all we can see of the objective world, as human being..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cfe/giorgio-morandi-48081_abstract_i-believe-that-nothing-can-be-more-abstr_640530.png" --- # I believe that nothing can be more abstract, more unreal… ![“I believe that nothing can be more abstract, more unreal, than what we actually see. We know that all we can see of the objective world, as human beings, never really exists as we see and understand it. Matter exists, of course, but has no intrinsic meaning of its own, such as the meanings that we…” quote by Giorgio Morandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cfe/giorgio-morandi-48081_abstract_i-believe-that-nothing-can-be-more-abstr_640530.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cfe/giorgio-morandi-48081_abstract_i-believe-that-nothing-can-be-more-abstr_640530.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cfe/giorgio-morandi-48081_abstract_i-believe-that-nothing-can-be-more-abstr_640530.png) > “I believe that nothing can be more abstract, more unreal, than what we actually see. We know that all we can see of the objective world, as human beings, never really exists as we see and understand it. Matter exists, of course, but has no intrinsic meaning of its own, such as the meanings that we attach to it. We can know only that a cup is a cup, that a tree is a tree.” [Giorgio Morandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgio-morandi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our perceptions of reality are constructed; objects lack inherent meaning beyond our interpretations. **In simple terms:** We see things, but meaning is added by us. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about reality. Themes philosophy perception meaning Mood inquisitive philosophical Type contemplative introspective When to use this quote - art criticism - daily observation - scientific inquiry Key Concepts ontology subjectivity Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to truly "see" something? - How do we assign meaning? A Different Perspective Objects may have intrinsic properties we cannot access. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“I believe that even our most abstract and philosophical views spring from an intensely personal base.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-r-rogers/i-believe-that-even-our-most-abstract-and-philosophical-views-spring/) [Carl R. Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-r-rogers/) > [There are lots of things we never understand, no matter how many years we put on, no matter how much experience we accumulate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/there-are-lots-of-things-we-never-understand-no-matter-how-many-years-2/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Doctors don't know everything really. They understand matter, not spirit. And you and I live in the spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-saroyan/doctors-don-t-know-everything-really-they-understand-matter-not/) [William Saroyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-saroyan/) > [When there's something you can't understand no matter how much you think about it, you can't let yourself brood over it forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-gray-man/when-there-s-something-you-can-t-understand-no-matter-how-much-you-2/) D-Gray Man > [When there's something you can't understand no matter how much you think about it, you can't let yourself brood over it forever. ~Allen Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katsura-hoshino/when-there-s-something-you-can-t-understand-no-matter-how-much-you/) [Katsura Hoshino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katsura-hoshino/) > [“Matter is thought, and thought is matter. Nothing exists that cannot be synthesized.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/matter-is-thought-and-thought-is-matter-nothing-exists-that-cannot-be/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [The conclusion is inescapable that non-luminous matter exists beyond the optical galaxy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-rubin/the-conclusion-is-inescapable-that-non-luminous-matter-exists-beyond/) [Vera Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-rubin/) > [According to "matter-ism," matter is all that exists. The only things that are real are physical things in motion governed by natural law. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-koukl/according-to-matter-ism-matter-is-all-that-exists-the-only-things/) [Greg Koukl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-koukl/) > [We may lay it down as an incontestible axiom, that, in all the operations of art and nature, nothing is created; an equal quantity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-lavoisier/we-may-lay-it-down-as-an-incontestible-axiom-that-in-all-the-2/) [Antoine Lavoisier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-lavoisier/) > [We may lay it down as an incontestible axiom, that, in all the operations of art and nature, nothing is created; an equal quantity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-lavoisier/we-may-lay-it-down-as-an-incontestible-axiom-that-in-all-the/) [Antoine Lavoisier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-lavoisier/) > [The abstract, unreal freedom of the liberal intellect was really nothing more than childish disobedience, amplified into anarchy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/the-abstract-unreal-freedom-of-the-liberal-intellect-was-really/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [To die; to decide to die; that's much easier for an adolescent than for an adult. What? Doesn't death strip an adolescent of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/to-die-to-decide-to-die-that-s-much-easier-for-an-adolescent-than-for/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Since the past is unreal and the future is unreal, all your thoughts are about nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/byron-katie/since-the-past-is-unreal-and-the-future-is-unreal-all-your-thoughts/) [Byron Katie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/byron-katie/) > [We take that which is unreal to be real and that which is real to be unreal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-spira/we-take-that-which-is-unreal-to-be-real-and-that-which-is-real-to-be/) [Rupert Spira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-spira/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) ## More by Giorgio Morandi > [You cannot demonstrate your own greatness by remaining at one extreme, but by reaching out to both extremes at the same time, and filling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorgio-morandi/you-cannot-demonstrate-your-own-greatness-by-remaining-at-one-extreme/) [Giorgio Morandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgio-morandi/) > [What interests me the most is expressing what's in nature, in the visible world, that is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorgio-morandi/what-interests-me-the-most-is-expressing-what-s-in-nature-in-the/) [Giorgio Morandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgio-morandi/) > [A half dozen pictures would just about be enough for the life of an artist, for my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorgio-morandi/a-half-dozen-pictures-would-just-about-be-enough-for-the-life-of-an/) [Giorgio Morandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgio-morandi/) > [One can travel this world and see nothing. To achieve understanding it is necessary not to see many things, but to look hard at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorgio-morandi/one-can-travel-this-world-and-see-nothing-to-achieve-understanding-it/) [Giorgio Morandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgio-morandi/) > [Everything is a mystery, ourselves, and all things both simple and humble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorgio-morandi/everything-is-a-mystery-ourselves-and-all-things-both-simple-and/) [Giorgio Morandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgio-morandi/) > [Nothing is more abstract than reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorgio-morandi/nothing-is-more-abstract-than-reality/) [Giorgio Morandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgio-morandi/) > [I am essentially a painter of the kind of still life composition that communicates a sense of tranquillity and privacy, moods which I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorgio-morandi/i-am-essentially-a-painter-of-the-kind-of-still-life-composition-that/) [Giorgio Morandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgio-morandi/) [Explore all 8 Giorgio Morandi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgio-morandi/) ## More Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“Happy is very abstract, you can't touch it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-veal/happy-is-very-abstract-you-can-t-touch-it/) [Julius Veal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-veal/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) Anthony W. Ivins > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. Some or all of these elements move,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-calder/a-mobile-is-an-abstract-sculpture-made-chiefly-out-of-sheet-metal/) [Alexander Calder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-calder/) > [I'm this superphilosophical kind of person. Stuck in a prison of abstract ideas and overpowering emotions, I have this personality that makes it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuo-kirino/i-m-this-superphilosophical-kind-of-person-stuck-in-a-prison-of/) [Natsuo Kirino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuo-kirino/) > [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [The trouble is that when you read criticisms about the other films that I've made you get the impression that they're all about themes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-haneke/the-trouble-is-that-when-you-read-criticisms-about-the-other-films/) [Michael Haneke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-haneke/) > [Painting is... a richer language than words... Painting operates through signs which are not abstract and incorporeal like words. The signs of painting are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dubuffet/painting-is-a-richer-language-than-words-painting-operates-through/) [Jean Dubuffet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dubuffet/) [Browse all 1,403 Abstract quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I believe that nothing can be more abstract, more unreal, than what we actually see. We know that all we can see of the objective world, as human beings, never really exists as we see and understand it. Matter exists, of course, but has no intrinsic meaning of its own, such as the meanings that we attach to it. 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