--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Smell is a long-distance sense, a way of…" description: "\"Smell is a long-distance sense, a way of stretching time and finding out in advance what lies ahead.\" — Lyall Watson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8a/lyall-watson-23271_advance_smell-is-a-long-distance-sense-a-way-of_1504262.png" --- # Smell is a long-distance sense, a way of stretching time… ![“Smell is a long-distance sense, a way of stretching time and finding out in advance what lies ahead.” quote by Lyall Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8a/lyall-watson-23271_advance_smell-is-a-long-distance-sense-a-way-of_1504262.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8a/lyall-watson-23271_advance_smell-is-a-long-distance-sense-a-way-of_1504262.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8a/lyall-watson-23271_advance_smell-is-a-long-distance-sense-a-way-of_1504262.png) > “Smell is a long-distance sense, a way of stretching time and finding out in advance what lies ahead.” [Lyall Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Smell extends perception across distances, allowing anticipation of future events. **In simple terms:** Smell helps us sense what’s ahead. Key Takeaway Use scent to gauge environments. Themes senses anticipation time perception Mood reflective sensory Type scientific philosophical When to use this quote - cooking - nature walks - travel planning Key Concepts biology neuroscience Questions to Reflect On - How does scent influence your memories? - Can you use smell to improve decision making? A Different Perspective Relying solely on sight can miss subtle cues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Advance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advance/) [Ahead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ahead/) [Distance Sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distance-sense-5522245/) [Finding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finding/) [Lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lies/) [Long distance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-distance/) [Out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/out/) [Sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense/) [Sense Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-way-2151044/) [Smell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell/) [Smell Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell-long-5522244/) [Stretching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stretching/) [Stretching Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stretching-time-5522246/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [If you know where you are going, you have this sixth sense about if everything you do along the way is lined up with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-greene/if-you-know-where-you-are-going-you-have-this-sixth-sense-about-if/) [Diane Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-greene/) > [“Maybe it doesn't make sense but it's my way. I can't navigate any other way”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/maybe-it-doesn-t-make-sense-but-it-s-my-way-i-can-t-navigate-any/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [Because of you, the world makes sense to me in a way it didn't before. I have a place now, with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-day/because-of-you-the-world-makes-sense-to-me-in-a-way-it-didn-t-before/) [Sylvia Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-day/) > [Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/let-our-advance-worrying-become-advance-thinking-and-planning/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Some might complain that nuclear disarmament is little more than a dream. 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If you ride to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-mraz/i-think-it-s-important-to-earn-your-fan-base-and-not-just-try-to/) [Jason Mraz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-mraz/) > [Error is discipline through which we advance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/error-is-discipline-through-which-we-advance/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [What I have in advance are people I want to write about and a problem or problems that I see those people encountering and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/what-i-have-in-advance-are-people-i-want-to-write-about-and-a-problem/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [Others have said it before me. If you don't have a seat at the table, you're probably on the menu. And so it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/others-have-said-it-before-me-if-you-don-t-have-a-seat-at-the-table/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) > [My priority in life is my whanau, followed by my work as an artist, which has blessed me with the ability to provide opportunities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cliff-curtis/my-priority-in-life-is-my-whanau-followed-by-my-work-as-an-artist/) [Cliff Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cliff-curtis/) > [Some companies out there quote a start of production that is substantially in advance of when customers get their cars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/some-companies-out-there-quote-a-start-of-production-that-is/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [The advance of science spares us from irrational dread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/the-advance-of-science-spares-us-from-irrational-dread/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [It's more common than not that bipolar illness will start in the teens. One of the reasons I spend a lot of time on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/it-s-more-common-than-not-that-bipolar-illness-will-start-in-the/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [I don't think we should tell them what we're going to do in advance. Let them think. Worry. Wonder. Uncertainty is the most chilling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-a-walters/i-don-t-think-we-should-tell-them-what-we-re-going-to-do-in-advance/) [Vernon A. Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vernon-a-walters/) ## More by Lyall Watson > [The limits of sensory evolution in fish are defined very largely by their habitat. Water is physically supportive, carries some kinds of odour well,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/the-limits-of-sensory-evolution-in-fish-are-defined-very-largely-by/) [Lyall Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/) > [“We are in tune, and given the chance, we do things tunefully. We dance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/we-are-in-tune-and-given-the-chance-we-do-things-tunefully-we-dance/) [Lyall Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/) > [Smell is stimulating. It stirs things up and makes us nostalgic - a wonderful word which literally means 'ache for home' - which serves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/smell-is-stimulating-it-stirs-things-up-and-makes-us-nostalgic-a/) [Lyall Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/) > [It is a fascinating and provocative thought that a body of water deserves to be considered as an organism in its own right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/it-is-a-fascinating-and-provocative-thought-that-a-body-of-water/) [Lyall Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/) > [We share our planet quite naturally with a permanent aeroplankton; a buoyant ecology too soft to hear, too small to see, but heavy with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/we-share-our-planet-quite-naturally-with-a-permanent-aeroplankton-a/) [Lyall Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/) > [Smell was our first sense. It is even possible that being able to smell was the stimulus that took a primitive fish and turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/smell-was-our-first-sense-it-is-even-possible-that-being-able-to/) [Lyall Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/) > [“He was his usual philosophic self and tried very hard to explain to me that although life was stained with agony, this was necessary.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/he-was-his-usual-philosophic-self-and-tried-very-hard-to-explain-to/) [Lyall Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/) > [Breathing air is a liberating experience. It freed our ancestors from the constraints of staying wet or having to remain within easy reach of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/breathing-air-is-a-liberating-experience-it-freed-our-ancestors-from/) [Lyall Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/) > [“To get to know someone new, you need to touch a lot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/to-get-to-know-someone-new-you-need-to-touch-a-lot/) [Lyall Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/) > [If elephants didn't exist, you couldn't invent one. They belong to a small group of living things so unlikely they challenge credulity and common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/if-elephants-didn-t-exist-you-couldn-t-invent-one-they-belong-to-a/) [Lyall Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/) > [“It is a truism among researchers into smell that all human subjects behave as if they themselves do not smell like humans, because all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/it-is-a-truism-among-researchers-into-smell-that-all-human-subjects/) [Lyall Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/) > [If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/if-the-brain-were-so-simple-we-could-understand-it-we-would-be-so/) [Lyall Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/) > [I live and work alone and travel light, relying largely on my memory and making a point of letting # intuition guide my way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/i-live-and-work-alone-and-travel-light-relying-largely-on-my-memory/) [Lyall Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/) > [Air is traditionally 'thin,' but the more we learn about our atmosphere, the more substantial it becomes. In some places it is so filled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/air-is-traditionally-thin-but-the-more-we-learn-about-our-atmosphere/) [Lyall Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/) > [Dancing is surely the most basic and relevant of all forms of expression. Nothing else can so effectively give outward form to an inner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/dancing-is-surely-the-most-basic-and-relevant-of-all-forms-of/) [Lyall Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/) [Explore all 26 Lyall Watson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/) ## More Advance quotes > [I don't think we should tell them what we're going to do in advance. Let them think. Worry. Wonder. Uncertainty is the most chilling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-a-walters/i-don-t-think-we-should-tell-them-what-we-re-going-to-do-in-advance/) [Vernon A. Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vernon-a-walters/) > [It's more common than not that bipolar illness will start in the teens. One of the reasons I spend a lot of time on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-redfield-jamison/it-s-more-common-than-not-that-bipolar-illness-will-start-in-the/) [Kay Redfield Jamison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-redfield-jamison/) > [The advance of science spares us from irrational dread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/the-advance-of-science-spares-us-from-irrational-dread/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [Some companies out there quote a start of production that is substantially in advance of when customers get their cars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elon-musk/some-companies-out-there-quote-a-start-of-production-that-is/) [Elon Musk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elon-musk/) > [My priority in life is my whanau, followed by my work as an artist, which has blessed me with the ability to provide opportunities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cliff-curtis/my-priority-in-life-is-my-whanau-followed-by-my-work-as-an-artist/) [Cliff Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cliff-curtis/) > [Others have said it before me. If you don't have a seat at the table, you're probably on the menu. And so it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/others-have-said-it-before-me-if-you-don-t-have-a-seat-at-the-table/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) > [What I have in advance are people I want to write about and a problem or problems that I see those people encountering and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/what-i-have-in-advance-are-people-i-want-to-write-about-and-a-problem/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [Error is discipline through which we advance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/error-is-discipline-through-which-we-advance/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [I think it's important to earn your fan base and not just try to immediately advance to the top. If you ride to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-mraz/i-think-it-s-important-to-earn-your-fan-base-and-not-just-try-to/) [Jason Mraz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-mraz/) > [The Chinese public is deeply nationalist, which matters to China's unelected political leadership as much as U.S. nationalism does to American politicians. As China…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-feldman/the-chinese-public-is-deeply-nationalist-which-matters-to-china-s/) [Noah Feldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-feldman/) > [Some might complain that nuclear disarmament is little more than a dream. But that ignores the very tangible benefits disarmament would bring for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ban-ki-moon/some-might-complain-that-nuclear-disarmament-is-little-more-than-a/) [Ban Ki-moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ban-ki-moon/) > [Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/let-our-advance-worrying-become-advance-thinking-and-planning/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Let us not bankrupt our todays by paying interest on the regrets of yesterday and by borrowing in advance the troubles of tomorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-w-sockman-2/let-us-not-bankrupt-our-todays-by-paying-interest-on-the-regrets-of/) [Ralph W. Sockman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-w-sockman-2/) > [In times of failing health, don't hopelessly pray for the intervention of a mythical god; wish hopefully for an advance in medical science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-fowler/in-times-of-failing-health-don-t-hopelessly-pray-for-the-intervention/) [Steve Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-fowler/) > [Clearly, unless thinking beings inevitably wipe themselves out soon after developing technology, extraterrestrial intelligence could often be millions or billions of years in advance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/clearly-unless-thinking-beings-inevitably-wipe-themselves-out-soon/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) [Browse all 263 Advance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Smell is a long-distance sense, a way of stretching time and finding out in advance what lies ahead.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lyall Watson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/smell-is-a-long-distance-sense-a-way-of-stretching-time-and-finding/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Advance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/smell-is-a-long-distance-sense-a-way-of-stretching-time-and-finding/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8a/lyall-watson-23271_advance_smell-is-a-long-distance-sense-a-way-of_1504262.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8a/lyall-watson-23271_advance_smell-is-a-long-distance-sense-a-way-of_1504262.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8a/lyall-watson-23271_advance_smell-is-a-long-distance-sense-a-way-of_1504262.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Smell is a long-distance sense, a way of stretching time and finding out in advance what lies ahead.” — Lyall Watson", "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": "Lyall Watson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyall-watson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Smell is a long-distance sense, a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/smell-is-a-long-distance-sense-a-way-of-stretching-time-and-finding/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyall-watson/smell-is-a-long-distance-sense-a-way-of-stretching-time-and-finding/#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 } } ] } ```