--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That fine part of our construction, the…" description: "\"That fine part of our construction, the eye, seems as much the receptacle and seat of our passions as the mind itself; and at least it is the outward p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/joseph-addison-377_affection_that-fine-part-of-our-construction-the-e_410662.png" --- # That fine part of our construction, the eye, seems as much… ![“That fine part of our construction, the eye, seems as much the receptacle and seat of our passions as the mind itself; and at least it is the outward portal to introduce them to the house within, or rather the common thoroughfare to let our affections pass in and out.” quote by Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/joseph-addison-377_affection_that-fine-part-of-our-construction-the-e_410662.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/joseph-addison-377_affection_that-fine-part-of-our-construction-the-e_410662.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/joseph-addison-377_affection_that-fine-part-of-our-construction-the-e_410662.png) > “That fine part of our construction, the eye, seems as much the receptacle and seat of our passions as the mind itself; and at least it is the outward portal to introduce them to the house within, or rather the common thoroughfare to let our affections pass in and out.” [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The eye is portrayed as a gateway that both reflects and transmits our emotions, linking external perception to inner feeling. **In simple terms:** The eye connects outer world to inner emotions. Key Takeaway Recognize how perception shapes feeling. Themes perception emotion mind-body expression Mood contemplative introspective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - art criticism - personal reflection - psychology - communication Key Concepts Sensory perception emotional transmission Questions to Reflect On - How does what you see influence your emotions? - Can you trust visual impressions? A Different Perspective The eye can be deceiving, limiting true understanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) [Construction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/construction/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) ## Related quotes > [“Keep a guard over your eyes and ears as the inlets of your heart, and over your lips as the outlet, lest they betray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/keep-a-guard-over-your-eyes-and-ears-as-the-inlets-of-your-heart-and/) [Anne Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [We should look to the mind, and not to the outward appearance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/we-should-look-to-the-mind-and-not-to-the-outward-appearance/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [Happiness depends more on the inward disposition of mind than on outward circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-depends-more-on-the-inward-disposition-of-mind-than-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Science is the only news. When you scan a news portal or magazine, all the human interest stuff is the same old he-said-she-said, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-brand/science-is-the-only-news-when-you-scan-a-news-portal-or-magazine-all/) [Stewart Brand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-brand/) > [The portal of healing and creativity always takes us into the realm of the spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angeles-arrien/the-portal-of-healing-and-creativity-always-takes-us-into-the-realm/) [Angeles Arrien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angeles-arrien/) > [I think I'm most comfortable when I function in a parallel space that's not separate from political reality, but somehow comments on it from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larissa-sansour/i-think-i-m-most-comfortable-when-i-function-in-a-parallel-space-that/) [Larissa Sansour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larissa-sansour/) > [“Portals and doorways are common symbolic constructs that represent transformative rites of passage. To look for a literal portal would be like trying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/portals-and-doorways-are-common-symbolic-constructs-that-represent/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [A fundamental premise of American democratic theory is that government exists to serve the people. ... Public records are one portal through which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-day-o-connor/a-fundamental-premise-of-american-democratic-theory-is-that/) [Sandra Day O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-day-o-connor/) > [I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that ye may be mistaken." I should like to have that written over the portals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/i-beseech-ye-in-the-bowels-of-christ-think-that-ye-may-be-mistaken-i/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [Given that ever-broadening array of options and alternatives, as consumers and investors, we are often bewildered. We need guidance. That's where today's brands come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reich/given-that-ever-broadening-array-of-options-and-alternatives-as/) [Robert Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reich/) > [I think there's confusion around what the point of social networks is. A lot of different companies characterized as social networks have different goals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zuckerberg/i-think-there-s-confusion-around-what-the-point-of-social-networks-is/) [Mark Zuckerberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zuckerberg/) > ['I beseech ye . . . , think that ye may be mistaken.' I should like to have that written over the portals of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/i-beseech-ye-think-that-ye-may-be-mistaken-i-should-like-to-have-that/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [The serialization through the Internet or through digital portals, means of ways of communicating, and I think that's great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keanu-reeves/the-serialization-through-the-internet-or-through-digital-portals/) [Keanu Reeves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keanu-reeves/) > [Poetical taste is the only magician whose wand is not broken. No hand, except its own, can dissolve the fabric of beauty in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/poetical-taste-is-the-only-magician-whose-wand-is-not-broken-no-hand/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I have a radio show on Sirius XM. I put it up as a free download on my Soundcloud and on iTunes. That's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-trak/i-have-a-radio-show-on-sirius-xm-i-put-it-up-as-a-free-download-on-my/) [A-Trak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-trak/) ## More by Joseph Addison > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [There is nothing touches our imagination so much as a beautiful woman in a plain dress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/there-is-nothing-touches-our-imagination-so-much-as-a-beautiful-woman/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [We are always doing something for posterity, but I would fain see posterity do something for us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/we-are-always-doing-something-for-posterity-but-i-would-fain-see/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Female Virtues are of a Domestick turn. The Family is the proper Province for Private Women to Shine in. If they must be showing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/female-virtues-are-of-a-domestick-turn-the-family-is-the-proper/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [As addictions go, reading is among the cleanest, easiest to feed, happiest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/as-addictions-go-reading-is-among-the-cleanest-easiest-to-feed/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [There is no society or conversation to be kept up in the world without good-nature, or something which must bear its appearance and supply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/there-is-no-society-or-conversation-to-be-kept-up-in-the-world/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [When love once pleads admission to our hearts, In spite of all the virtue we can boast, The woman that deliberates is lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/when-love-once-pleads-admission-to-our-hearts-in-spite-of-all-the/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Many actions calculated to procure fame are not conducive to ultimate happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/many-actions-calculated-to-procure-fame-are-not-conducive-to-ultimate/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [T is liberty crowns Britannia's Isle, And makes her barren rocks and her bleak mountains smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/t-is-liberty-crowns-britannia-s-isle-and-makes-her-barren-rocks-and/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/reading-is-a-basic-tool-in-the-living-of-a-good-life/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [The moral perfections of the Deity, the more attentively, we consider, the more perfectly still shall we know them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/the-moral-perfections-of-the-deity-the-more-attentively-we-consider/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [The utmost we can hope for in this world is contentment; if we aim at anything higher, we shall meet with nothing but grief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/the-utmost-we-can-hope-for-in-this-world-is-contentment-if-we-aim-at/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Courage that grows from constitution often forsakes a man when he has occasion for it; courage which arises from a sense of duty acts;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/courage-that-grows-from-constitution-often-forsakes-a-man-when-he-has/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [The most skillful flattery is to let a person talk on, and be a listener.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/the-most-skillful-flattery-is-to-let-a-person-talk-on-and-be-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) [Explore all 620 Joseph Addison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) ## More Affection quotes > [My team and I have reunited two elements that coexist with diffiulty: respect and affection, because when they love you they don't respect you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakira/my-team-and-i-have-reunited-two-elements-that-coexist-with-diffiulty/) [Shakira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakira/) > [Needs cause motivation. Deep-rooted desires for esteem, affection, belonging, achievement, self-actualization, power, and control motivate us to push for what we want and need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/needs-cause-motivation-deep-rooted-desires-for-esteem-affection/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [“It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/it-is-to-build-a-house-with-affection-even-as-if-your-beloved-were-to/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I, measuring his affections by my own, Which then most sought where most might not be found, Being one too many by my weary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-measuring-his-affections-by-my-own-which-then-most-sought-where/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [There are a number of qualities which are important for mental peace, but from the little experience I have, I believe that one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/there-are-a-number-of-qualities-which-are-important-for-mental-peace/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [A lost love. Deny it who will, ridicule it, treat it as mere imagination and sentiment, the thing is and will be; and women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/a-lost-love-deny-it-who-will-ridicule-it-treat-it-as-mere-imagination/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [Affection! Affection is false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/affection-affection-is-false/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Listen, I have a great affection and respect for Joe Biden. I think he's been a great vice president. He's taken on a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-axelrod/listen-i-have-a-great-affection-and-respect-for-joe-biden-i-think-he/) [David Axelrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-axelrod/) > [The still affection of the heart Became an outward breathing type, That into stillness past again, And left a want unknown before; Although the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/the-still-affection-of-the-heart-became-an-outward-breathing-type/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [I am persuaded that there is no affection of the human heart more exquisitely pure, than that which is felt by a grateful son…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/i-am-persuaded-that-there-is-no-affection-of-the-human-heart-more/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [Our sweetest experiences of affection are meant to be suggestions of that realm which is the home of the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/our-sweetest-experiences-of-affection-are-meant-to-be-suggestions-of/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“Georgia O’Keeffe moved to rural New Mexico, from which she would sign her letters to the people she loved, “from the faraway nearby.” It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/georgia-o-keeffe-moved-to-rural-new-mexico-from-which-she-would-sign/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) [Browse all 2,465 Affection quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That fine part of our construction, the eye, seems as much the receptacle and seat of our passions as the mind itself; and at least it is the outward portal to introduce them to the house within, or rather the common thoroughfare to let our affections pass in and out.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joseph Addison" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/that-fine-part-of-our-construction-the-eye-seems-as-much-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Affection" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/that-fine-part-of-our-construction-the-eye-seems-as-much-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/joseph-addison-377_affection_that-fine-part-of-our-construction-the-e_410662.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/joseph-addison-377_affection_that-fine-part-of-our-construction-the-e_410662.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f0/joseph-addison-377_affection_that-fine-part-of-our-construction-the-e_410662.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That fine part of our construction, the eye, seems as much the receptacle and seat of our passions as the…” — Joseph Addison", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Joseph Addison", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "That fine part of our construction,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/that-fine-part-of-our-construction-the-eye-seems-as-much-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/that-fine-part-of-our-construction-the-eye-seems-as-much-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```