Blue Quote by John Locke
“The Ideas of primary Qualities of Bodies, are Resemblances of them, and their Patterns do really exist in the Bodies themselves; but the Ideas, produced in us by these Secondary Qualities, have no resemblance of them at all. There is nothing like our Ideas, existing in the Bodies themselves. They are in Bodies, we denominate from them, only a Power to produce those Sensations in us: And what is Sweet, Blue or Warm in Idea, is but the certain Bulk, Figure, and Motion of the insensible parts in the Bodies themselves, which we call so.”
About This Quote
Source Book: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book II, 1689
Our mental images of primary qualities are based on the actual physical traits of objects, but secondary qualities like color or temperature are only our mind’s representations, not the objects themselves.
In simple terms: Primary qualities reflect real properties; secondary qualities are mental constructs.
Key Takeaway
Recognize the distinction between external reality and perception.
Themes
perception
reality
knowledge
Mood
curious
inquisitive
Type
philosophical
descriptive
When to use this quote
- scientific observation
- artistic creation
- everyday decision making
Key Concepts
empiricism
philosophy of mind
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you verify that your perceptions match reality?
- What role do cultural meanings play in interpreting secondary qualities?
A Different Perspective
Perception can be misleading; sensory data may be incomplete.
![“Those qualities of bodies that cannot be intended and remitted [i.e., qualities that cannot be increased and diminished] and that belong to all bodies on which experiments can be made should be taken as qualities of all bodies universally.” quote by Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/4b8/isaac-newton-1226_body_those-qualities-of-bodies-that-cannot-be_469601.jpg)
![“So, Fabricius, I already have this: that the most true path of the planet [Mars] is an ellipse, which Dürer also calls an oval, or certainly so close to an ellipse that the difference is insensible.” quote by Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a6b/johannes-kepler-4278_differences_so-fabricius-i-already-have-this-that-th_311054.jpg)
![“[M]an is not permitted without censure to follow his own thoughts in the search of truth, when they lead him ever so little out of the common road.” quote by John Locke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9bd/john-locke-814_censorship_m-an-is-not-permitted-without-censure-to_60175.jpg)
