--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Michaelangelo said the mirror is our…" description: "\"Michaelangelo said the mirror is our greatest teacher. My use of mirrors in my work helps me uncover psychic layers. Often, the face is distorted in th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4c/joyce-tenneson-23149_darkness_michaelangelo-said-the-mirror-is-our-gre_78467.jpg" --- # Michaelangelo said the mirror is our greatest teacher. My… ![“Michaelangelo said the mirror is our greatest teacher. My use of mirrors in my work helps me uncover psychic layers. Often, the face is distorted in the mirror so it is much more than a simple reflection. Sometimes something surprising emerges - some darkness or secret appears without us knowing…” quote by Joyce Tenneson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4c/joyce-tenneson-23149_darkness_michaelangelo-said-the-mirror-is-our-gre_78467.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4c/joyce-tenneson-23149_darkness_michaelangelo-said-the-mirror-is-our-gre_78467.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4c/joyce-tenneson-23149_darkness_michaelangelo-said-the-mirror-is-our-gre_78467.jpg) > “Michaelangelo said the mirror is our greatest teacher. My use of mirrors in my work helps me uncover psychic layers. Often, the face is distorted in the mirror so it is much more than a simple reflection. Sometimes something surprising emerges - some darkness or secret appears without us knowing why or giving it permission.” [Joyce Tenneson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-tenneson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mirrors reveal hidden psychological depths, exposing aspects of self that are usually concealed or distorted, prompting unexpected insights. **In simple terms:** Self‑reflection uncovers hidden inner layers. Key Takeaway Mirrors act as a portal to unconscious material. Themes self‑knowledge psychology artistic process perception shadow work Mood curious introspective mysterious Type philosophical observational inspirational When to use this quote - artist studio practice - personal therapy session - creative brainstorming - mindfulness meditation - visual art critique Key Concepts mirror symbolism psychic layering distortion emergent insight Practical Applications - psychotherapy techniques - conceptual art installations Questions to Reflect On - What does the unexpected darkness in a mirror suggest about your inner world? - How can intentional distortion be used to explore hidden emotions? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Mirror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirror/) [Mirrors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirrors/) [Photographer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographer/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Psychics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychics/) [Reflection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reflection/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Self-Awareness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-awareness-2/) [Teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teacher/) ## Related quotes > [“Mirrors work magic. Repeat the last three words (or the critical one to three words) of what someone has just said. We fear what’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-voss/mirrors-work-magic-repeat-the-last-three-words-or-the-critical-one-to/) [Chris Voss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-voss/) > [I know how mirrors work. They're all in league with the cosmetics trade. They tell a woman lies. Drawing her gaze from one imagined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-dare/i-know-how-mirrors-work-they-re-all-in-league-with-the-cosmetics/) [Tessa Dare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-dare/) > [“watch myself in the mirrors at work constantly. It makes it more interesting. I used to do this ages ago out of worry of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelley-kenney/watch-myself-in-the-mirrors-at-work-constantly-it-makes-it-more/) Kelley Kenney > [I just recently figured out how mirrors work. Pretty cool. That guy always hungrily staring at my naked body was me!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-just-recently-figured-out-how-mirrors-work-pretty-cool-that-guy/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [“You're an intensely attractive woman. You do know that, don't you?" To her silence, he replied, "You'd believe me if you could see yourself."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-dare/you-re-an-intensely-attractive-woman-you-do-know-that-don-t-you-to/) [Tessa Dare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-dare/) > [I'm not going to be murdered," Harry said out loud. "That's the spirit, dear," said his mirror sleepily.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-not-going-to-be-murdered-harry-said-out-loud-that-s-the-spirit/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I never walked out the door and said, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest Baldwin brother of them all?"](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alec-baldwin/i-never-walked-out-the-door-and-said-mirror-mirror-on-the-wall-who-s/) [Alec Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alec-baldwin/) > [“But then a foreboding thought cast a shadow over the rest, blunt and unadorned, and it was simply this: that for most of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/but-then-a-foreboding-thought-cast-a-shadow-over-the-rest-blunt-and/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“He raised his hand automatically and tried to make his hair lie flat. “You’re fighting a losing battle there, dear,” said his mirror in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling/he-raised-his-hand-automatically-and-tried-to-make-his-hair-lie-flat/) [J.K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling/) > [I have done so many things in my life," she said to the mirror. "Evil things, perhaps. But never unattentively, never wastefully...was I wrong?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/i-have-done-so-many-things-in-my-life-she-said-to-the-mirror-evil/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [My wife went into the butchers and said: "You've a sheep's head in your window." The butcher said: "That's a mirror."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-carson/my-wife-went-into-the-butchers-and-said-you-ve-a-sheep-s-head-in-your/) [Frank Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-carson/) > [My early self-portraits appeared effortlessly and seemed like equivalents for my deeper emotions. Many critics remarked that the images had an almost other-worldly haunting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-tenneson/my-early-self-portraits-appeared-effortlessly-and-seemed-like/) [Joyce Tenneson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-tenneson/) > [The tremendous population increase has made meditation and psychic perception, things that come naturally to spiritually evolved people, difficult to practice and participate in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-tremendous-population-increase-has-made-meditation-and-psychic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [If you are psychic you may see that the smiling faces aren't smiling at all, inside. You can eliminate those individuals from your life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-are-psychic-you-may-see-that-the-smiling-faces-aren-t-smiling/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [ The self is defined psychologically as the psychic totality of the individual. Anything that a \[person\] postulates as being a greater totality than \[oneself\]… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/the-self-is-defined-psychologically-as-the-psychic-totality-of-the/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) ## More by Joyce Tenneson > [My early self-portraits appeared effortlessly and seemed like equivalents for my deeper emotions. Many critics remarked that the images had an almost other-worldly haunting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-tenneson/my-early-self-portraits-appeared-effortlessly-and-seemed-like/) [Joyce Tenneson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-tenneson/) > [My whole artistic life has been devoted to battling myself and my ability to externalize my deepest emotions. As I have gotten older, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-tenneson/my-whole-artistic-life-has-been-devoted-to-battling-myself-and-my/) [Joyce Tenneson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-tenneson/) > [Find the one thing you’re good at and FOCUS on it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-tenneson/find-the-one-thing-you-re-good-at-and-focus-on-it/) [Joyce Tenneson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-tenneson/) > [If I am lucky, something new and inexplicable often appears in front of my lens. I am always surprised by the mystery of how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-tenneson/if-i-am-lucky-something-new-and-inexplicable-often-appears-in-front/) [Joyce Tenneson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-tenneson/) > [Photographing these flowers has made me see the world differently. It was as if I had lifted a secret veil from a subject I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-tenneson/photographing-these-flowers-has-made-me-see-the-world-differently-it/) [Joyce Tenneson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-tenneson/) > [I found that I wanted to be best friends with almost all the women I interviewed because they had been through something. They were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-tenneson/i-found-that-i-wanted-to-be-best-friends-with-almost-all-the-women-i/) [Joyce Tenneson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-tenneson/) > [If I had to pick a single word to describe what my pictures are all about, I would say 'secrets.' As a child I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-tenneson/if-i-had-to-pick-a-single-word-to-describe-what-my-pictures-are-all/) [Joyce Tenneson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-tenneson/) > [I would never censor something to please someone. I don't play games.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-tenneson/i-would-never-censor-something-to-please-someone-i-don-t-play-games/) [Joyce Tenneson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-tenneson/) > [The people I work with, the people I photograph, become a kind of family for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-tenneson/the-people-i-work-with-the-people-i-photograph-become-a-kind-of/) [Joyce Tenneson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-tenneson/) > [I never chased after any particular school, never really had mentors; I really just did the work that was true to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-tenneson/i-never-chased-after-any-particular-school-never-really-had-mentors-i/) [Joyce Tenneson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-tenneson/) > [I have the same themes over and over again. How I'm saying it keeps changing or growing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-tenneson/i-have-the-same-themes-over-and-over-again-how-i-m-saying-it-keeps/) [Joyce Tenneson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-tenneson/) > [I want to allow others to reveal and celebrate aspects of themselves that are usually hidden. My camera is a witness. It holds a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-tenneson/i-want-to-allow-others-to-reveal-and-celebrate-aspects-of-themselves/) [Joyce Tenneson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-tenneson/) > [Over the years I have photographed thousands of people. I have never stopped being curious and trying to discover new worlds. I have used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-tenneson/over-the-years-i-have-photographed-thousands-of-people-i-have-never/) [Joyce Tenneson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-tenneson/) > [I think of my work as very polarizing; either people really do like it and are touched by it or they really don't get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-tenneson/i-think-of-my-work-as-very-polarizing-either-people-really-do-like-it/) [Joyce Tenneson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-tenneson/) > [The most important thing is to try and enjoy life because you never know when it will be gone. If you wake up in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-tenneson/the-most-important-thing-is-to-try-and-enjoy-life-because-you-never/) [Joyce Tenneson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-tenneson/) [Explore all 26 Joyce Tenneson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-tenneson/) ## More Darkness quotes > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“Wait here, wait here!" he cried and jumped up and began to run for help toward a cluster of lights he saw in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/wait-here-wait-here-he-cried-and-jumped-up-and-began-to-run-for-help/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [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/) > [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/) [anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-beauty-of-darkness-is-how-it-lets-you-see/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Even in darkness your lips taste of sunshine”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/even-in-darkness-your-lips-taste-of-sunshine/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [“Defy me not for gleam can only shine in my existence" said Darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/defy-me-not-for-gleam-can-only-shine-in-my-existence-said-darkness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What does he look like? The question was soft- tentative. I knew who he meant. I interlaced my fingers through Rhysand's and squeezed tightly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/what-does-he-look-like-the-question-was-soft-tentative-i-knew-who-he/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [The dream of coming back is becoming a reality. A lot of the uncertainty about the future has been cleared up. A lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tagliabue/the-dream-of-coming-back-is-becoming-a-reality-a-lot-of-the/) [Paul Tagliabue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tagliabue/) > [“Life is like coffee, the darker it gets, the more it energizes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ankita-singhal/life-is-like-coffee-the-darker-it-gets-the-more-it-energizes/) [Ankita Singhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ankita-singhal/) > [Twinking tears in a sea of black. Soft light in a world of darkness. Tiny wishes in a place of dreams. Do you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-gentile/twinking-tears-in-a-sea-of-black-soft-light-in-a-world-of-darkness/) Nicole Gentile [Browse all 8,219 Darkness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Michaelangelo said the mirror is our greatest teacher. My use of mirrors in my work helps me uncover psychic layers. Often, the face is distorted in the mirror so it is much more than a simple reflection. 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