--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To each eye, perhaps, the outlines of a…" description: "\"To each eye, perhaps, the outlines of a great civilization present a different picture. In the wide ocean upon which we venture, the possible ways and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b84/jacob-burckhardt-27446_application_to-each-eye-perhaps-the-outlines-of-a-gr_27212.jpg" --- # To each eye, perhaps, the outlines of a great civilization… ![“To each eye, perhaps, the outlines of a great civilization present a different picture. In the wide ocean upon which we venture, the possible ways and directions are many; and the same studies which have served for my work might easily, in other hands, not only receive a wholly different treatment…” quote by Jacob Burckhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b84/jacob-burckhardt-27446_application_to-each-eye-perhaps-the-outlines-of-a-gr_27212.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b84/jacob-burckhardt-27446_application_to-each-eye-perhaps-the-outlines-of-a-gr_27212.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b84/jacob-burckhardt-27446_application_to-each-eye-perhaps-the-outlines-of-a-gr_27212.jpg) > “To each eye, perhaps, the outlines of a great civilization present a different picture. In the wide ocean upon which we venture, the possible ways and directions are many; and the same studies which have served for my work might easily, in other hands, not only receive a wholly different treatment and application, but lead to essentially different conclusions.” [Jacob Burckhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-burckhardt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Perception of history and knowledge varies by observer; the same data can yield divergent interpretations and outcomes. **In simple terms:** Subjective lenses shape understanding. Key Takeaway Interpretations differ across contexts. Themes subjectivity history interpretation perspective knowledge uncertainty Mood thoughtful inquisitive reflective Type philosophical observational analytical When to use this quote - academic research - policy analysis - cross‑cultural dialogue - strategic planning - educational curricula Key Concepts historical analysis cognitive bias methodology cultural framing Practical Applications - critical historiography - multidisciplinary problem solving Questions to Reflect On - How does your own background influence your conclusions? - What mechanisms can ensure diverse perspectives are considered? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Conclusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conclusion/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ocean/) [Treatment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treatment/) ## Related quotes > [You may as well know, also, that every great leader, from the dawn of civilization down to the present, was a dreamer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/you-may-as-well-know-also-that-every-great-leader-from-the-dawn-of/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [“We are ready to accept almost any explanation of the present crisis of our civilization except one: that the present state of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-a-von-hayek/we-are-ready-to-accept-almost-any-explanation-of-the-present-crisis/) Friedrich A. von Hayek > [Civilization in its present form hasn't got long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lovelock/civilization-in-its-present-form-hasn-t-got-long/) [James Lovelock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lovelock/) > [To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization, and at present very few people have reached this level.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/to-be-able-to-fill-leisure-intelligently-is-the-last-product-of/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [The great menace of civilization in the present is that we offer an education with too little regard for the roots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-massey/the-great-menace-of-civilization-in-the-present-is-that-we-offer-an/) [Vincent Massey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-massey/) > [With the same honest views, the most honest men often form different conclusions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/with-the-same-honest-views-the-most-honest-men-often-form-different/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [While people are free to draw different conclusions from the facts, there should be no debate over whether the American public is entitled to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trey-gowdy/while-people-are-free-to-draw-different-conclusions-from-the-facts/) [Trey Gowdy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trey-gowdy/) > [Unlike physics, economists don't settle things. There seems to be plenty of room for different conclusions that are still accepted in the academy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-davidson/unlike-physics-economists-don-t-settle-things-there-seems-to-be/) [Adam Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-davidson/) > [Different conclusions are reached when one fact is viewed from two separate points of view. When that happens, there is no immediate way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/different-conclusions-are-reached-when-one-fact-is-viewed-from-two/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“New Testament textual criticism continually arrives at different conclusions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/new-testament-textual-criticism-continually-arrives-at-different/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Statistics: The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/statistics-the-only-science-that-enables-different-experts-using-the/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [One often thinks that using 2 different things like visual and sound lead to 2 different conclusions - to a different content - but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-often-thinks-that-using-2-different-things-like-visual-and-sound/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ I always begin \[a novel\] with outlines, but they change and so do my endings and beginnings. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sefi-atta/i-always-begin-a-novel-with-outlines-but-they-change-and-so-do-my/) [Sefi Atta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sefi-atta/) > [Trump conducts meetings and actually tries to get something done rather than just have the meeting and rather than just announce a framework and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/trump-conducts-meetings-and-actually-tries-to-get-something-done/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Right now I'm doing four shows at a time, trying to read four outlines every week, four scripts every week, and watching four rough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-spelling/right-now-i-m-doing-four-shows-at-a-time-trying-to-read-four-outlines/) [Aaron Spelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-spelling/) ## More by Jacob Burckhardt > [The essence of tyranny is the denial of complexity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-burckhardt/the-essence-of-tyranny-is-the-denial-of-complexity/) [Jacob Burckhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-burckhardt/) > [Great men are necessary for our life, in order that the movement of world history can free itself sporadically, by fits and starts, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-burckhardt/great-men-are-necessary-for-our-life-in-order-that-the-movement-of/) [Jacob Burckhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-burckhardt/) > [Only a fairy tale calls a constant condition 'happiness'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-burckhardt/only-a-fairy-tale-calls-a-constant-condition-happiness/) [Jacob Burckhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-burckhardt/) > [The seventeenth century is everywhere a time in which the state's power over everything individual increases, whether that power be in absolutist hands or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-burckhardt/the-seventeenth-century-is-everywhere-a-time-in-which-the-state-s/) [Jacob Burckhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-burckhardt/) > [The biggest mischief in the past century has been perpetrated by Rousseau with his doctrine of the goodness of human nature. The mob and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-burckhardt/the-biggest-mischief-in-the-past-century-has-been-perpetrated-by/) [Jacob Burckhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-burckhardt/) > [There might be a fact of the greatest significance reported by Thucydides which will only be recognized as such a hundred years from now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-burckhardt/there-might-be-a-fact-of-the-greatest-significance-reported-by/) [Jacob Burckhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-burckhardt/) > [History is on every occasion the record of that which one age finds worthy of note in another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-burckhardt/history-is-on-every-occasion-the-record-of-that-which-one-age-finds/) [Jacob Burckhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-burckhardt/) > [The state incurs debts for politics, war, and other higher causes and 'progress'. . . . The assumption is that the future will honour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-burckhardt/the-state-incurs-debts-for-politics-war-and-other-higher-causes-and/) [Jacob Burckhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-burckhardt/) > [True universality does not consist in knowing much but in loving much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-burckhardt/true-universality-does-not-consist-in-knowing-much-but-in-loving-much/) [Jacob Burckhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-burckhardt/) > [Neither in the life of the individual nor in that of mankind is it desirable to know the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-burckhardt/neither-in-the-life-of-the-individual-nor-in-that-of-mankind-is-it/) [Jacob Burckhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-burckhardt/) > [Power is of its nature evil, whoever wields it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-burckhardt/power-is-of-its-nature-evil-whoever-wields-it/) [Jacob Burckhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-burckhardt/) > [Only the fairy tale equates changelessness with happiness...Permanence means paralysis and death. Only, in movement, with all its pain, is life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-burckhardt/only-the-fairy-tale-equates-changelessness-with-happiness-permanence/) [Jacob Burckhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-burckhardt/) > [The more recently power has originated, the less it can remain stationary - first because those who created it have become accustomed to rapid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-burckhardt/the-more-recently-power-has-originated-the-less-it-can-remain/) [Jacob Burckhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-burckhardt/) > [In history the way of annihilation is invariably prepared by inward degeneration, by decrease of life. Only then can a shock from outside put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-burckhardt/in-history-the-way-of-annihilation-is-invariably-prepared-by-inward/) [Jacob Burckhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-burckhardt/) > [“Nothing in the world is better suited to laziness than orthodoxy. 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I'm really excited about the partnership…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mc-hammer/i-ve-been-in-real-estate-for-a-long-time-and-i-always-try-to-stay-on/) [MC Hammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mc-hammer/) > [If we blow ourselves up we will do it by misapplication of science; if we manage to keep from blowing ourselves up, it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/if-we-blow-ourselves-up-we-will-do-it-by-misapplication-of-science-if/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“...why don't you take a picture of yourself next to a fucking job application? How about that?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-wolf/why-don-t-you-take-a-picture-of-yourself-next-to-a-fucking-job/) Josh Wolf > [Everything for us is a system. We don't think about it discretely as just as a piece of hardware, or discretely as an application...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hosain-rahman/everything-for-us-is-a-system-we-don-t-think-about-it-discretely-as/) [Hosain Rahman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hosain-rahman/) > [Without application of the mind; there is no drive for taking affirmative action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-mercado/without-application-of-the-mind-there-is-no-drive-for-taking/) [Joseph Mercado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-mercado/) > [“Having no applicable skills, in any possible area whatsoever, effectively makes me the master of redundancy. But that info is obsolete, like my insults…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-advise/having-no-applicable-skills-in-any-possible-area-whatsoever/) Will Advise > [At every juncture, advanced tools have been the key to a new wave of applications, and each wave of applications has been key to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/at-every-juncture-advanced-tools-have-been-the-key-to-a-new-wave-of/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [The effect of the discovery of printing was evident in the savage religious wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Application of power to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-innis/the-effect-of-the-discovery-of-printing-was-evident-in-the-savage/) [Harold Innis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-innis/) > [As science is more and more subject to grave misuse as well as to use for human benefit it has also become the scientist's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-science-is-more-and-more-subject-to-grave-misuse-as-well-as-to-use/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you ask ... the man in the street ... the human significance of mathematics, the answer of the world will be, that mathematics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassius-jackson-keyser/if-you-ask-the-man-in-the-street-the-human-significance-of/) [Cassius Jackson Keyser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassius-jackson-keyser/) > [Technology, and applications of this technology, will continue to improve and evolve, providing unprecedented, global access to information, individuals, training, and opportunities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-webb/technology-and-applications-of-this-technology-will-continue-to/) [Maynard Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-webb/) > [Willpower is the fuel that runs human life; Like a driver in a computer application, Or Operating System in cyber programme, Willpower works life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/praveen-kumar/willpower-is-the-fuel-that-runs-human-life-like-a-driver-in-a/) [Praveen Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/praveen-kumar/) Browse all 918 Application quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To each eye, perhaps, the outlines of a great civilization present a different picture. 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