--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We're left with so little to go on. Only…" description: "\"We're left with so little to go on. Only the present is full enough to seem complete, and even that is an optical illusion. The moment is bleeding off ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ad/ivan-vladislavi-61501_bleeding_we-re-left-with-so-little-to-go-on-only_1884960.png" --- # We're left with so little to go on. Only the present is… ![“We're left with so little to go on. Only the present is full enough to seem complete, and even that is an optical illusion. The moment is bleeding off the page. We live on the precipice of our perceptions. At the edge of every living instant, the world shears away like a cliff of ice into the sea…” quote by Ivan Vladislavic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ad/ivan-vladislavi-61501_bleeding_we-re-left-with-so-little-to-go-on-only_1884960.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ad/ivan-vladislavi-61501_bleeding_we-re-left-with-so-little-to-go-on-only_1884960.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ad/ivan-vladislavi-61501_bleeding_we-re-left-with-so-little-to-go-on-only_1884960.png) > “We're left with so little to go on. Only the present is full enough to seem complete, and even that is an optical illusion. The moment is bleeding off the page. We live on the precipice of our perceptions. At the edge of every living instant, the world shears away like a cliff of ice into the sea of what is forgotten.” [Ivan Vladislavic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-vladislavi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our perception is fleeting; the present feels whole but is an illusion, and memory erodes it. **In simple terms:** Now feels complete but is fleeting. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of perception. Themes perception time memory Mood contemplative melancholic Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - daily decision making - creative writing - mindfulness practice - historical analysis Key Concepts philosophy psychology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What moments feel most real to you? - How do you cope with uncertainty? A Different Perspective Our senses can deceive; certainty is elusive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bleeding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bleeding/) [Cliffs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cliffs/) [Edges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/edges/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Forgotten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgotten/) [Goes on](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goes-on/) [Ice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ice/) [Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion/) [Illusion Moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion-moment-1008023/) [Instant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instant/) [Left](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moment/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Optical illusions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optical-illusions/) [Pages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pages/) [Perception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perception/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Precipice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precipice/) [Present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present/) [Present Complete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-complete-2687668/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Shears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shears/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [We're born alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-re-born-alone-we-die-alone-only-through-our-love-and-friendship/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [...it is not for the illusion of a moment to govern the choice of a lifetime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-not-for-the-illusion-of-a-moment-to-govern-the-choice-of-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [But he could not renounce his infinite capacity for illusion at the very moment he needed it most... he saw fireflies where there were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/but-he-could-not-renounce-his-infinite-capacity-for-illusion-at-the/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [We born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-born-alone-we-live-alone-we-die-alone-only-through-our-love-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ A good shepherd shears his flock, not flays them. \[Lat., Boni pastoris est tondere pecus non deglubere.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suetonius/a-good-shepherd-shears-his-flock-not-flays-them-lat-boni-pastoris-est/) [Suetonius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suetonius/) > [The statesman shears the sheep; the politician skins them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-o-malley/the-statesman-shears-the-sheep-the-politician-skins-them/) [Austin O'Malley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-o-malley/) > [It is no disparagement to the garden to say it will not fence and weed itself, nor prune its own fruit trees, nor roll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-no-disparagement-to-the-garden-to-say-it-will-not-fence-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Garden shears would be wonderful. Also an ax. I bet axes were awesome for working out aggression. Probably fantastic for building upper body strength…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kylie-scott/garden-shears-would-be-wonderful-also-an-ax-i-bet-axes-were-awesome/) [Kylie Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kylie-scott/) > [MARRIAGE, Is much like a pair of shears, so joined so the parts cannot be separated, often moving in opposite directions, yet always punishing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/marriage-is-much-like-a-pair-of-shears-so-joined-so-the-parts-cannot/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [The finished product is not finished when the actor is. The work is completed by a pair of shears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-von-sternberg/the-finished-product-is-not-finished-when-the-actor-is-the-work-is/) [Josef von Sternberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-von-sternberg/) > [Alas! What boots it with uncessant care To tend the homely slighted Shepherd's trade, And strictly meditate the thankless muse; Were it not better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/alas-what-boots-it-with-uncessant-care-to-tend-the-homely-slighted/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [My life had taken a stranger turn than I could've ever imagined. What was I doing on this path? Where was I headed really?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kami-garcia/my-life-had-taken-a-stranger-turn-than-i-could-ve-ever-imagined-what/) [Kami Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kami-garcia/) > [(That last infirmity of noble mind) To scorn delights, and live laborious days; But the fair guerdon when we hope to find, And think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/that-last-infirmity-of-noble-mind-to-scorn-delights-and-live/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [The hands of every clock are shears, trimming us away scrap by scrap, and every time piece with a digital readout blinks us towards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/the-hands-of-every-clock-are-shears-trimming-us-away-scrap-by-scrap/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/fame-is-the-spur-that-the-clear-spirit-doth-raise/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) ## More by Ivan Vladislavic > [“There are no big stories left, just paths through the clutter and the inevitable soft landing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-vladislavi/there-are-no-big-stories-left-just-paths-through-the-clutter-and-the/) [Ivan Vladislavić](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-vladislavi/) > [“getting lost is not always a bad thing”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-vladislavi/getting-lost-is-not-always-a-bad-thing/) [Ivan Vladislavic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-vladislavi/) > [“Write it down. 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I must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jackson/those-who-criticize-they-desire-our-blood-not-our-pain-but-still-i/) [Michael Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jackson/) > [The saints are sinners still. Our best tears need to be wept over, the strongest faith is mixed with unbelief, our most flaming love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/the-saints-are-sinners-still-our-best-tears-need-to-be-wept-over-the/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [You can accept or reject the way you are treated by other people, but until you heal the wounds of your past, you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iyanla-vanzant/you-can-accept-or-reject-the-way-you-are-treated-by-other-people-but/) [Iyanla Vanzant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iyanla-vanzant/) > [I love watching people get hit in the crotch. But only if they get back up. 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