--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That was one of the problems with the…" description: "\"That was one of the problems with the Narcissus figure. Here is a face looking at a face, and the problem is the image of the thing is never actually t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca1/jane-alison-19956_disappear_that-was-one-of-the-problems-with-the-na_2660719.jpg" --- # That was one of the problems with the Narcissus figure… ![“That was one of the problems with the Narcissus figure. Here is a face looking at a face, and the problem is the image of the thing is never actually the thing. You try and grab it and it's not there. It's water. It disappears.” quote by Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca1/jane-alison-19956_disappear_that-was-one-of-the-problems-with-the-na_2660719.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca1/jane-alison-19956_disappear_that-was-one-of-the-problems-with-the-na_2660719.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca1/jane-alison-19956_disappear_that-was-one-of-the-problems-with-the-na_2660719.jpg) > “That was one of the problems with the Narcissus figure. Here is a face looking at a face, and the problem is the image of the thing is never actually the thing. You try and grab it and it's not there. It's water. It disappears.” [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The Narcissus paradox shows that self‑reflection can be elusive; the image we chase is never the true self. **In simple terms:** Self‑image is a fleeting reflection, not reality. Key Takeaway Seek authentic self‑knowledge beyond appearances. Themes identity perception illusion Mood introspective philosophical Type advice reflective When to use this quote - therapy - self‑esteem issues - personal growth Key Concepts self‑reflection philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - What does your true self look like? - How can you balance self‑awareness with acceptance? A Different Perspective Over‑focus on image can cause anxiety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Disappear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappear/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Figure Face](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/figure-face-2426266/) [Figures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/figures/) [Narcissus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narcissus/) [Narcissus Figure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narcissus-figure-2426265/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Problem Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem-image-2276325/) [Problems Narcissus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problems-narcissus-2426264/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) [Water Disappears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water-disappears-1674907/) ## Related quotes > [Our bounty, like a drop of water, disappears, when diffus'd too widely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/our-bounty-like-a-drop-of-water-disappears-when-diffus-d-too-widely/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [I don't have a problem with my image; it's other people who do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-fox/i-don-t-have-a-problem-with-my-image-it-s-other-people-who-do/) [Samantha Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-fox/) > [“I could do just about anything if somebody made me. But I don't have an image of the one thing I really want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-could-do-just-about-anything-if-somebody-made-me-but-i-don-t-have/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Nature is none other than God in all things. Animals and plants are living effects of Nature; Whence all of God is in all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giordano-bruno/nature-is-none-other-than-god-in-all-things-animals-and-plants-are/) [Giordano Bruno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giordano-bruno/) > [When we are young we do not look into mirrors. It is when we are old, concerned with our name, our legend, what our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/when-we-are-young-we-do-not-look-into-mirrors-it-is-when-we-are-old/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [You cannot hammer a girl into anything. She grows as a flower does, she will wither without sun; she will decay in her sheath…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/you-cannot-hammer-a-girl-into-anything-she-grows-as-a-flower-does-she/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [Her lips are roses over-washed with dew, Or like the purple of Narcissus' flower; No frost their fair, no wind doth waste their power,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/her-lips-are-roses-over-washed-with-dew-or-like-the-purple-of/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [Leo took out a pen and autographed the arm of one of the nymphs. “Narcissus is a loser! He’s so weak, he can’t bench-press…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/leo-took-out-a-pen-and-autographed-the-arm-of-one-of-the-nymphs/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [“Yesterday a very interesting, beautifully photografed english picture about a nun convent in India, "Black Narcissus," with Deborah Kerr who is quite lovely. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-weill/yesterday-a-very-interesting-beautifully-photografed-english-picture/) [Kurt Weill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-weill/) > [“The Orphic symbols center on the singing god who lives to defeat death and who liberates nature, so that the constrained and constraining matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/the-orphic-symbols-center-on-the-singing-god-who-lives-to-defeat/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [Narcissus is the glory of his race: For who does nothing with a better grace?.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-young/narcissus-is-the-glory-of-his-race-for-who-does-nothing-with-a-better/) [Edward Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-young/) > [“Lily, look and see Narcissus’s true reflection . . . - Abram, Seers of Light”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-delucy/lily-look-and-see-narcissus-s-true-reflection-abram-seers-of-light/) [Jennifer DeLucy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-delucy/) > [I've got six months to sort out the hackers, get the Japanese knotweed under control and find an acceptable form of narcissus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/i-ve-got-six-months-to-sort-out-the-hackers-get-the-japanese-knotweed/) [Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/) > [“The alchemist picked up a book that someone in the caravan had brought. Leafing through the pages, he found a story about Narcissus. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-alchemist-picked-up-a-book-that-someone-in-the-caravan-had/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Narcissus does not fall in love with his reflection because it is beautiful, but because it is his. If it were his beauty that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/narcissus-does-not-fall-in-love-with-his-reflection-because-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Jane Alison > [I know that I was able to find my way out of most of my feelings by writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/i-know-that-i-was-able-to-find-my-way-out-of-most-of-my-feelings-by/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) > [When you get immersed in whatever you're writing, the world does suddenly get so filtered through what you're writing. And then of course what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/when-you-get-immersed-in-whatever-you-re-writing-the-world-does/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) > [In order to have a real life of any romance, there has to be a level of fantasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/in-order-to-have-a-real-life-of-any-romance-there-has-to-be-a-level/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) > [The state of love is this constant flux back and forth between who's saving and who's rescuing, who's wanting and not wanting, who's needing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/the-state-of-love-is-this-constant-flux-back-and-forth-between-who-s/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) > [“Making a self can be like writing, and now I think writing can be like home: a space you make that you dwell in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/making-a-self-can-be-like-writing-and-now-i-think-writing-can-be-like/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) > [“Just as there can be a hole in these narratives, a memoir can be as much about what's forgotten as what's remembered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/just-as-there-can-be-a-hole-in-these-narratives-a-memoir-can-be-as/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) > [I was born in Australia and grew up in the foreign services. I had this kind of trans-Pacific life. I think I was always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/i-was-born-in-australia-and-grew-up-in-the-foreign-services-i-had/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) > [When you're waiting for a bus, the thing to do is smoke a cigarette.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/when-you-re-waiting-for-a-bus-the-thing-to-do-is-smoke-a-cigarette/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) > [I think sometimes to still be angry is appropriate, but you want to be able to live with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/i-think-sometimes-to-still-be-angry-is-appropriate-but-you-want-to-be/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) > [“This stream of watching made what was watched wanted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/this-stream-of-watching-made-what-was-watched-wanted/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) > [I can't say that fantasy instead of the 3D world is fine or good, but I know in my own life I have certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/i-can-t-say-that-fantasy-instead-of-the-3d-world-is-fine-or-good-but/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) > [I've always wanted to figure out how to do a walking story. I'd never figured out how to do one and have it work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/i-ve-always-wanted-to-figure-out-how-to-do-a-walking-story-i-d-never/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) > [You have to want something or you're finished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/you-have-to-want-something-or-you-re-finished/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) > [I suppose you retire from trying. If you retire from trying, you think, "Maybe love will just come my way if I don't want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/i-suppose-you-retire-from-trying-if-you-retire-from-trying-you-think/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) > [“When you're sixteen or seventeen meaning can be anywhere. A drop of rain running down the window is a symbol, a song comes on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/when-you-re-sixteen-or-seventeen-meaning-can-be-anywhere-a-drop-of/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) [Explore all 31 Jane Alison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) ## More Disappear quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [I'm at the edge of the world, Where do I go from here? Do I disappear? Edge of the world, Should I sink or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bring-me-the-horizon/i-m-at-the-edge-of-the-world-where-do-i-go-from-here-do-i-disappear/) [Bring Me The Horizon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bring-me-the-horizon/) > [Nothing old is ever reborn but neither does it totally disappear. And that which has once been born, will always reappear in a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvar-aalto/nothing-old-is-ever-reborn-but-neither-does-it-totally-disappear-and/) [Alvar Aalto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvar-aalto/) > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Pain results from a judgment you have made about a thing. Remove the judgment and the pain disappears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/pain-results-from-a-judgment-you-have-made-about-a-thing-remove-the/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [“I am disappearing, maybe I'm already gone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-niven/i-am-disappearing-maybe-i-m-already-gone/) [Jennifer Niven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-niven/) > [“Must a people disappear for us to know they exist? Mano Dayak”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mano-dayak/must-a-people-disappear-for-us-to-know-they-exist-mano-dayak/) [Mano Dayak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mano-dayak/) > [When I step into the batters box. The fans, the noise, the cheers, they all disappear. For that moment, the world is just a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley/when-i-step-into-the-batters-box-the-fans-the-noise-the-cheers-they/) [Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft-shelley/) > [I am sympathetic to developing countries’ concerns: because of our emissions it’s their crops that will disappear; because of our inaction, it’s their fields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kerry/i-am-sympathetic-to-developing-countries-concerns-because-of-our/) [John F. Kerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kerry/) > [Although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/although-i-don-t-have-anything-against-people-from-other-countries/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't like magic - but I have been known to make guys disappear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mr-t/i-don-t-like-magic-but-i-have-been-known-to-make-guys-disappear/) [Mr. T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mr-t/) > [It is almost impossible to overestimate the value of true humility and its power in the spiritual life. For the beginning of humility is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/it-is-almost-impossible-to-overestimate-the-value-of-true-humility/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [The pace of global warming is accelerating and the scale of the impact is devastating. The time for action is limited - we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-spitzer/the-pace-of-global-warming-is-accelerating-and-the-scale-of-the/) [Eliot Spitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliot-spitzer/) > [I definitely have a different perspective on music in general. But once I actually have a guitar in my hands, I think I disappear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-orcutt/i-definitely-have-a-different-perspective-on-music-in-general-but/) [Bill Orcutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-orcutt/) [Browse all 2,209 Disappear quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappear/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That was one of the problems with the Narcissus figure. Here is a face looking at a face, and the problem is the image of the thing is never actually the thing. You try and grab it and it's not there. It's water. 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