--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A fragment is not a fraction but a whole…" description: "\"A fragment is not a fraction but a whole piece\" — Lyn Hejinian" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59e/lyn-hejinian-32127_fraction_a-fragment-is-not-a-fraction-but-a-whole_180561.jpg" --- # A fragment is not a fraction but a whole piece ![“A fragment is not a fraction but a whole piece” quote by Lyn Hejinian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59e/lyn-hejinian-32127_fraction_a-fragment-is-not-a-fraction-but-a-whole_180561.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59e/lyn-hejinian-32127_fraction_a-fragment-is-not-a-fraction-but-a-whole_180561.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59e/lyn-hejinian-32127_fraction_a-fragment-is-not-a-fraction-but-a-whole_180561.jpg) > “A fragment is not a fraction but a whole piece” [Lyn Hejinian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyn-hejinian/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A fragment can be a complete, self‑contained unit rather than a part of a larger whole. **In simple terms:** Fragments can be whole on their own. Key Takeaway Recognize the wholeness in small pieces. Themes identity wholeness perception Mood reflective inquisitive Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - art analysis - writing - design - education Key Concepts holism part‑whole relationship Questions to Reflect On - How does seeing a fragment as whole change your view? - When does a fragment need a larger context? A Different Perspective A fragment may lack context, limiting its meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fragment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fragment/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) ## Related quotes > [Literature is a fragment of a fragment. Of all that ever happened, or has been said, but a fraction has been written; and of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/literature-is-a-fragment-of-a-fragment-of-all-that-ever-happened-or/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [A journey is a fragment of Hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-chatwin/a-journey-is-a-fragment-of-hell/) [Bruce Chatwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-chatwin/) > [At the sight of a single bone, of a single piece of bone, I recognize and reconstruct the portion of the whole from which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-cuvier/at-the-sight-of-a-single-bone-of-a-single-piece-of-bone-i-recognize/) [Georges Cuvier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-cuvier/) > [Everlastingly chained to a single little fragment of the Whole, man himself develops into nothing but a fragment; everlastingly in his ear the monotonous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everlastingly-chained-to-a-single-little-fragment-of-the-whole-man/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“FRAGMENT, I am a fragment of us. I am a fragment composed of fragments. Mosaic, pastiche, ruin. Everyday consciousness proposes lightbulb, ropeswing, teapot, David…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-lindenberg/fragment-i-am-a-fragment-of-us-i-am-a-fragment-composed-of-fragments/) Rebecca Lindenberg > [Life is a fragment, a moment between two eternities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/life-is-a-fragment-a-moment-between-two-eternities/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [The beauty of a fragment is that it still supports the hope of brilliant completeness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/the-beauty-of-a-fragment-is-that-it-still-supports-the-hope-of/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [Our greatest pleasure, surely, is in fragments, just as we derive the most pleasure from life if we regard it as a fragment, whereas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bernhard/our-greatest-pleasure-surely-is-in-fragments-just-as-we-derive-the/) [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) > [Whatever you can conceive or imagine is but a fragment of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hakuun-yasutani/whatever-you-can-conceive-or-imagine-is-but-a-fragment-of-yourself/) Hakuun Yasutani > [No single thing abides; but all things flow. Fragment to fragment clings - the things thus grow Until we know them and name them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/no-single-thing-abides-but-all-things-flow-fragment-to-fragment/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [In any series of elements to be controlled, a selected small fraction, in terms of numbers of elements, always accounts for a large fraction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vilfredo-pareto/in-any-series-of-elements-to-be-controlled-a-selected-small-fraction/) [Vilfredo Pareto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vilfredo-pareto/) > [I often think about the many remarkable things that my personal computer can do which I never ask it to do. I probably use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-s-fletcher/i-often-think-about-the-many-remarkable-things-that-my-personal/) [Geoffrey S. Fletcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-s-fletcher/) > [Photographs aren't accounts of scrutiny. The shutter is open for a fraction of a second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/photographs-aren-t-accounts-of-scrutiny-the-shutter-is-open-for-a/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [Conventional turbines only work up to 200 feet, but capturing a small fraction of the global wind energy at higher altitudes could be sufficient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-griffith/conventional-turbines-only-work-up-to-200-feet-but-capturing-a-small/) [Saul Griffith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-griffith/) > [I took my first acting class at age 6 because I found out that's what Carol Burnett was doing - acting. Also she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-lakin/i-took-my-first-acting-class-at-age-6-because-i-found-out-that-s-what/) [Christine Lakin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-lakin/) ## More by Lyn Hejinian > [“The sky was packed which by appearing endless seems inevitable. The flag droops straight down. The horse in dry sand walks with a chirping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyn-hejinian/the-sky-was-packed-which-by-appearing-endless-seems-inevitable-the/) [Lyn Hejinian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyn-hejinian/) > [The idea of the person enters poetics where art and reality, or intentionality and circumstance, meet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyn-hejinian/the-idea-of-the-person-enters-poetics-where-art-and-reality-or/) [Lyn Hejinian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyn-hejinian/) > [To some extent, each sentence has to be the whole story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyn-hejinian/to-some-extent-each-sentence-has-to-be-the-whole-story/) [Lyn Hejinian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyn-hejinian/) > [“A German goldsmith covered a bit of metal with cloth in the 14th century and gave mankind its first button. It was hard to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyn-hejinian/a-german-goldsmith-covered-a-bit-of-metal-with-cloth-in-the-14th/) [Lyn Hejinian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyn-hejinian/) > [“Long time lines trail behind every idea, object, person, pet, vehicle, and event.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyn-hejinian/long-time-lines-trail-behind-every-idea-object-person-pet-vehicle-and/) [Lyn Hejinian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyn-hejinian/) > [“Writing’s initial situation, its point of origin, is often character­ized and always complicated by opposing impulses in the writer and by a seeming dilemma…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyn-hejinian/writing-s-initial-situation-its-point-of-origin-is-often-character/) [Lyn Hejinian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyn-hejinian/) > [Putting facts by the thousands, into the world, the toes take off with an appealing squeak which the thumping heel follows confidentially, the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyn-hejinian/putting-facts-by-the-thousands-into-the-world-the-toes-take-off-with/) [Lyn Hejinian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyn-hejinian/) > [People must flatter their own eyes with their pathetic lives. 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Anxiety is vigilant.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyn-hejinian/everything-is-a-question-of-sleep-says-cocteau-but-he-forgets-the/) [Lyn Hejinian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyn-hejinian/) [Explore all 16 Lyn Hejinian quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyn-hejinian/) ## More Fraction quotes > [The still image continues to have a ton of strength. 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But it should end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-goodell/the-end-of-coal-in-appalachia-doesn-t-mean-that-america-is-running/) [Jeff Goodell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-goodell/) > [Being gay is just a small fraction of who I am, not what defines me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-gay-is-just-a-small-fraction-of-who-i-am-not-what-defines-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When it comes to lyrics, I just write down a lot of things, and only a very tiny fraction of it, I think, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-berninger/when-it-comes-to-lyrics-i-just-write-down-a-lot-of-things-and-only-a/) [Matt Berninger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-berninger/) > [Conventional turbines only work up to 200 feet, but capturing a small fraction of the global wind energy at higher altitudes could be sufficient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-griffith/conventional-turbines-only-work-up-to-200-feet-but-capturing-a-small/) [Saul Griffith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-griffith/) > [Photographs aren't accounts of scrutiny. The shutter is open for a fraction of a second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hockney/photographs-aren-t-accounts-of-scrutiny-the-shutter-is-open-for-a/) [David Hockney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hockney/) > [If you represent the Earth's lifetime by a single year, say from January when it was made to December, the 21st-century would be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/if-you-represent-the-earth-s-lifetime-by-a-single-year-say-from/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [I often think about the many remarkable things that my personal computer can do which I never ask it to do. I probably use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-s-fletcher/i-often-think-about-the-many-remarkable-things-that-my-personal/) [Geoffrey S. Fletcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-s-fletcher/) > [In any series of elements to be controlled, a selected small fraction, in terms of numbers of elements, always accounts for a large fraction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vilfredo-pareto/in-any-series-of-elements-to-be-controlled-a-selected-small-fraction/) [Vilfredo Pareto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vilfredo-pareto/) > [“The distance between my home and here is a fraction of the emotional distance between here and inside.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valentine-glass/the-distance-between-my-home-and-here-is-a-fraction-of-the-emotional/) [Valentine Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valentine-glass/) > [A large fraction of the most interesting scientists have read a lot of SF at one time or another, either early enough that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederik-pohl/a-large-fraction-of-the-most-interesting-scientists-have-read-a-lot/) [Frederik Pohl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederik-pohl/) > [We live but a fraction of our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/we-live-but-a-fraction-of-our-lives/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“How much you give is not counted by amount, but by fraction”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophia-cajon/how-much-you-give-is-not-counted-by-amount-but-by-fraction/) Sophia Cajon Browse all 47 Fraction quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A fragment is not a fraction but a whole piece", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lyn Hejinian" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyn-hejinian/a-fragment-is-not-a-fraction-but-a-whole-piece/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fraction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyn-hejinian/a-fragment-is-not-a-fraction-but-a-whole-piece/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59e/lyn-hejinian-32127_fraction_a-fragment-is-not-a-fraction-but-a-whole_180561.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59e/lyn-hejinian-32127_fraction_a-fragment-is-not-a-fraction-but-a-whole_180561.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59e/lyn-hejinian-32127_fraction_a-fragment-is-not-a-fraction-but-a-whole_180561.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A fragment is not a fraction but a whole piece” — Lyn Hejinian", "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": "Lyn Hejinian", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyn-hejinian/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A fragment is not a fraction...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyn-hejinian/a-fragment-is-not-a-fraction-but-a-whole-piece/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyn-hejinian/a-fragment-is-not-a-fraction-but-a-whole-piece/#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 } } ] } ```