---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was eerie. I saw myself in that…"
description: "\"It was eerie. I saw myself in that machine. I never thought my work would come to this. Upon seeing a distorted image of his face, reflected on the ins..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6a/isidor-isaac-rabi-26285_biographies_it-was-eerie-i-saw-myself-in-that-machin_3095651.jpg"
---

#  It was eerie. I saw myself in that machine. I never…

![“It was eerie. I saw myself in that machine. I never thought my work would come to this. Upon seeing a distorted image of his face, reflected on the inside cylindrical surface of the bore while inside an MRI (magnetic-resonance-imaging) machine-a device made possible by his early physical…” quote by Isidor Isaac Rabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6a/isidor-isaac-rabi-26285_biographies_it-was-eerie-i-saw-myself-in-that-machin_3095651.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6a/isidor-isaac-rabi-26285_biographies_it-was-eerie-i-saw-myself-in-that-machin_3095651.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6a/isidor-isaac-rabi-26285_biographies_it-was-eerie-i-saw-myself-in-that-machin_3095651.jpg)

> “It was eerie. I saw myself in that machine. I never thought my work would come to this. Upon seeing a distorted image of his face, reflected on the inside cylindrical surface of the bore while inside an MRI (magnetic-resonance-imaging) machine-a device made possible by his early physical researches on nuclear magnetic resonance (1938).”

[Isidor Isaac Rabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/)

## About This Quote

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

A scientist confronts the uncanny feeling of seeing oneself in an MRI, reflecting on the convergence of technology and identity.

**In simple terms:** Seeing oneself in a scanner feels eerie and profound.

Key Takeaway

Embrace how tools reshape self‑perception.

Themes

science identity technology

Mood

contemplative uneasy

Type

philosophical scientific

When to use this quote

- medical diagnostics
- self‑analysis
- artistic interpretation

Key Concepts

self‑reflection medical imaging quantum physics

Questions to Reflect On

- How does technology alter your sense of self?
- What ethical limits should guide such introspection?

A Different Perspective

Technology can distance us from emotional experience.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Eerie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eerie/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Machines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machines/) [Mri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mri/) [Nuclear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nuclear/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/)

## Related quotes

> [It was eerie. I saw myself in that machine. I never thought my work would come to this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/it-was-eerie-i-saw-myself-in-that-machine-i-never-thought-my-work/)

[Isidor Isaac Rabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/)

> [Options other than mastectomy include high risk surveillance and risk reduction. Surveillance is a combination of monthly self breast exam, annual mammography and whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristi-funk/options-other-than-mastectomy-include-high-risk-surveillance-and-risk/)

[Kristi Funk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristi-funk/)

> [Politicians detest self-sufficient citizens. Politicians need to be needed. When we get socialized medicine, you will be completely dependent upon politicians for your medical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-boortz/politicians-detest-self-sufficient-citizens-politicians-need-to-be/)

[Neal Boortz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-boortz/)

> [If we can afford it, I personally think we should keep giving people MRIs a lot, so we can spot everything early. Our taxes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-newman/if-we-can-afford-it-i-personally-think-we-should-keep-giving-people/)

[John Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-newman/)

> [“The only explanation was that Juan had defied medical opinion and continued to monitor and remember the world around him for many months, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-owen/the-only-explanation-was-that-juan-had-defied-medical-opinion-and/)

Adrian Owen

> [I joke, but I only half joke, that if you come to one of our hospitals missing a limb, no one will believe you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/i-joke-but-i-only-half-joke-that-if-you-come-to-one-of-our-hospitals/)

[Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/)

> [When I was a runner and competing in triathlons I was having pains in my hip and just treating it as an injury. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-armstrong/when-i-was-a-runner-and-competing-in-triathlons-i-was-having-pains-in/)

[Kristin Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-armstrong/)

> [So we took out those 3 root canals when she had 3-6 months to live. And that was 6 years ago, and she is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-huggins/so-we-took-out-those-3-root-canals-when-she-had-3-6-months-to-live/)

Hal Huggins

> [ By the end of the shoot \[of Wrestler\], my trainer was pushing me up three flights of stairs to my house and holding my… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-rourke/by-the-end-of-the-shoot-of-wrestler-my-trainer-was-pushing-me-up/)

[Mickey Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-rourke/)

## More by Isidor Isaac Rabi

> [There are questions which illuminate, and there are those that destroy. I was always taught to ask the first kind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/there-are-questions-which-illuminate-and-there-are-those-that-destroy/)

[Isidor Isaac Rabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/)

> [I think physicists are the Peter Pans of the human race. They never grow up and they keep their curiosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/i-think-physicists-are-the-peter-pans-of-the-human-race-they-never/)

[Isidor Isaac Rabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/)

> [My ideal man is Benjamin Franklin-the figure in American history most worthy of emulation ... Franklin is my ideal of a whole man. ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/my-ideal-man-is-benjamin-franklin-the-figure-in-american-history-most/)

[Isidor Isaac Rabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/)

> [To me, science is an expression of the human spirit, which reaches every sphere of human culture. It gives an aim and meaning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/to-me-science-is-an-expression-of-the-human-spirit-which-reaches/)

[Isidor Isaac Rabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/)

> [The scientist does not defy the universe. He accepts it. It is his dish to savor, his realm to explore; it is his adventure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/the-scientist-does-not-defy-the-universe-he-accepts-it-it-is-his-dish/)

[Isidor Isaac Rabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/)

> [Physics is an otherworld thing, it requires a taste for things unseen, even unheard of- a high degree of abstraction... These faculties die off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/physics-is-an-otherworld-thing-it-requires-a-taste-for-things-unseen/)

[Isidor Isaac Rabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/)

> [As yet, if a man has no feeling for art he is considered narrow-minded, but if he has no feeling for science this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/as-yet-if-a-man-has-no-feeling-for-art-he-is-considered-narrow-minded/)

[Isidor Isaac Rabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/)

> [Suddenly, there was an enormous flash of light, the brightest light I have ever seen or that I think anyone has ever seen. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/suddenly-there-was-an-enormous-flash-of-light-the-brightest-light-i/)

[Isidor Isaac Rabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/)

> [Most new insights come only after a superabundant accumulation of facts have removed the blindness which prevented us from seeing what later comes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/most-new-insights-come-only-after-a-superabundant-accumulation-of/)

[Isidor Isaac Rabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/)

> [Physics filled me with awe, put me in touch with a sense of original causes. Physics brought me closer to God. That feeling stayed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/physics-filled-me-with-awe-put-me-in-touch-with-a-sense-of-original/)

[Isidor Isaac Rabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/)

> [It was eerie. I saw myself in that machine. I never thought my work would come to this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/it-was-eerie-i-saw-myself-in-that-machine-i-never-thought-my-work/)

[Isidor Isaac Rabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/)

> [“Suddenly, there was an enormous flash of light, the brightest light I have ever seen or that I think anyone has ever seen. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/suddenly-there-was-an-enormous-flash-of-light-the-brightest-light-i-2/)

[Isidor Isaac Rabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/)

> [ “When \[Niels\] Bohr is about everything is somehow different. Even the dullest gets a fit of brilliancy.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/when-niels-bohr-is-about-everything-is-somehow-different-even-the/)

[Isidor Isaac Rabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/)

> [Science itself is badly in need of integration and unification. The tendency is more and more the other way ... Only the graduate student,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/science-itself-is-badly-in-need-of-integration-and-unification-the/)

[Isidor Isaac Rabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/)

> [If you decide you don't have to get A's, you can learn an enormous amount in college.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/if-you-decide-you-don-t-have-to-get-a-s-you-can-learn-an-enormous/)

[Isidor Isaac Rabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/)

[Explore all 22 Isidor Isaac Rabi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/)

## More Biographies quotes

> [Don't be afraid of hard work. Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Don't let others discourage you or tell you that you can't do it. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-b-elion/don-t-be-afraid-of-hard-work-nothing-worthwhile-comes-easily-don-t/)

[Gertrude B. Elion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-b-elion/)

> [The last act in the biography of the hero is that of the death or departure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-last-act-in-the-biography-of-the-hero-is-that-of-the-death-or/)

[Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/)

> [If I were entering adulthood now instead of in the environment of fifty years ago, I would choose a career that kept me in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/if-i-were-entering-adulthood-now-instead-of-in-the-environment-of/)

[Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/)

> [I have my own biography of Gram Parsons - I don't want to be part of somebody else's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmylou-harris/i-have-my-own-biography-of-gram-parsons-i-don-t-want-to-be-part-of/)

[Emmylou Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmylou-harris/)

> [Biographies of great, but especially of good men are most instructive and useful as helps, guides, and incentives to others. Some of the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/biographies-of-great-but-especially-of-good-men-are-most-instructive/)

[Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/)

> [All Philosophy is Biography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-j-carroll/all-philosophy-is-biography/)

[Peter J. Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-j-carroll/)

> [Life is a biography, not a series of disconnected moments, more or less pleasurable but increasingly tedious and unsatisfying unless one imposes a purposive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dalrymple/life-is-a-biography-not-a-series-of-disconnected-moments-more-or-less/)

[Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dalrymple/)

> [I hope any poem I've ever written could stand on its own and not need to be a part of biography, critical theory or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-goldbarth/i-hope-any-poem-i-ve-ever-written-could-stand-on-its-own-and-not-need/)

[Albert Goldbarth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-goldbarth/)

> [The richly cadenced prose is hypnotic, the research prodigious, the analysis acute, the mood spellbinding, and the cast of characters mythic in scale. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/the-richly-cadenced-prose-is-hypnotic-the-research-prodigious-the/)

[Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/)

> [ I read so ravenously that I would read through whole categories. I was crazy about reading biographies. \[...\] I think biographies are very urgent… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-read-so-ravenously-that-i-would-read-through-whole-categories-i-was/)

[Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/)

> [I don't want to say that most rock bands live these formulaic biography existences - but they kinda do. There's always a divorce. There's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-grohl/i-don-t-want-to-say-that-most-rock-bands-live-these-formulaic/)

[Dave Grohl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-grohl/)

> [Formerly Milton's Paradise Lost had been my chief favourite, and in my excursions during the voyage of the Beagle, when I could take only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/formerly-milton-s-paradise-lost-had-been-my-chief-favourite-and-in-my/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [On the other hand, when I give it closer thought, I realize I'm not enough of a dictator to conduct an orchestra because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eberhard-weber/on-the-other-hand-when-i-give-it-closer-thought-i-realize-i-m-not/)

[Eberhard Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eberhard-weber/)

> [It can be a long gap between the emergence of fully researched historical biographies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonia-fraser/it-can-be-a-long-gap-between-the-emergence-of-fully-researched/)

[Antonia Fraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonia-fraser/)

> [Always live your life with your biography in mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marisha-pessl/always-live-your-life-with-your-biography-in-mind/)

[Marisha Pessl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marisha-pessl/)

Browse all 587 Biographies quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "It was eerie. I saw myself in that machine. I never thought my work would come to this. Upon seeing a distorted image of his face, reflected on the inside cylindrical surface of the bore while inside an MRI (magnetic-resonance-imaging) machine-a device made possible by his early physical researches on nuclear magnetic resonance (1938).",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Isidor Isaac Rabi"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/it-was-eerie-i-saw-myself-in-that-machine-i-never-thought-my-work-2/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Biographies"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/it-was-eerie-i-saw-myself-in-that-machine-i-never-thought-my-work-2/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6a/isidor-isaac-rabi-26285_biographies_it-was-eerie-i-saw-myself-in-that-machin_3095651.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6a/isidor-isaac-rabi-26285_biographies_it-was-eerie-i-saw-myself-in-that-machin_3095651.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6a/isidor-isaac-rabi-26285_biographies_it-was-eerie-i-saw-myself-in-that-machin_3095651.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“It was eerie. I saw myself in that machine. I never thought my work would come to this. Upon seeing a…” — Isidor Isaac Rabi",
                "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": "Isidor Isaac Rabi",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isidor-isaac-rabi/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "It was eerie. I saw myself...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/it-was-eerie-i-saw-myself-in-that-machine-i-never-thought-my-work-2/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isidor-isaac-rabi/it-was-eerie-i-saw-myself-in-that-machine-i-never-thought-my-work-2/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
