All time Quote by John Gardner
“I know everything, you see,' the old voice wheedled. 'The beginning, the present, the end. Everything. You now, you see the past and the present, like other low creatures: no higher faculties than memory and perception. But dragons, my boy, have a whole different kind of mind.' He stretched his mouth in a kind of smile, no trace of pleasure in it. 'We are from the mountaintop: all time, all space. We see in one instant the passionate vision and the blowout.”
About This Quote
Source Book: Grendel, John Gardner, 1971
The speaker contrasts human limited perception with a dragon’s expansive, timeless consciousness, suggesting a higher, all-encompassing mind.
In simple terms: Dragons see all time and space at once, unlike humans.
Key Takeaway
Recognize the limits of human perception.
Themes
perception
timelessness
knowledge
humility
Mood
contemplative
melancholic
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- creative writing
- philosophical discussion
- fantasy worldbuilding
- comparative mythology
- psychology of perception
Key Concepts
philosophy
mythology
cognitive scope
Questions to Reflect On
- How might expanding our perspective change our decisions?
- What does “higher faculties” mean beyond memory?
A Different Perspective
Human cognition is bound by memory and immediate experience, lacking the dragon’s holistic view.
![“I don't know whether we think in moving images or whether we think in still images. I have a suspicion that on our hard drive, our series within our brains, [exist] still photographs of very important moments in our lives. ... That we think in terms of still images and that what the photography is…” quote by Jon Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/598/jon-snow-40883_all-time_i-don-t-know-whether-we-think-in-moving_15093.jpg)
