--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are concerned with similar states of…" description: "\"We are concerned with similar states of consciousness and relationship to the world.. ..If previous abstractions paralleled the scientific and objectiv..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/516/mark-rothko-11292_abstraction_we-are-concerned-with-similar-states-of_2583547.jpg" --- # We are concerned with similar states of consciousness and… ![“We are concerned with similar states of consciousness and relationship to the world.. ..If previous abstractions paralleled the scientific and objective preoccupations of our times, ours are finding a pictoral equivalent for man's new knowledge and consciousness of his more complex inner self.” quote by Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/516/mark-rothko-11292_abstraction_we-are-concerned-with-similar-states-of_2583547.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/516/mark-rothko-11292_abstraction_we-are-concerned-with-similar-states-of_2583547.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/516/mark-rothko-11292_abstraction_we-are-concerned-with-similar-states-of_2583547.jpg) > “We are concerned with similar states of consciousness and relationship to the world.. ..If previous abstractions paralleled the scientific and objective preoccupations of our times, ours are finding a pictoral equivalent for man's new knowledge and consciousness of his more complex inner self.” [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Modern consciousness seeks visual metaphors for complex inner knowledge, moving beyond earlier scientific abstractions. **In simple terms:** Art mirrors evolving inner consciousness. Key Takeaway Explore visual expressions of inner complexity. Themes art philosophy psychology Mood contemplative introspective Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - gallery curation - art therapy - educational curricula - media design Key Concepts visual metaphor inner self consciousness Questions to Reflect On - How can art convey inner knowledge? - What visual symbols represent your inner self? A Different Perspective Interpretation can be highly subjective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) [Complexes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexes/) [Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) [Inner self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inner-self/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [New knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-knowledge/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [States of consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states-of-consciousness/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Rationality or consciousness is itself a ratio or proportion among the sensuous components of experience, and is not something added to such sense experience.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/rationality-or-consciousness-is-itself-a-ratio-or-proportion-among/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [There is an urgent need for a radical revision of our current concepts of the nature of consciousness and its relationship to matter and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislav-grof/there-is-an-urgent-need-for-a-radical-revision-of-our-current/) [Stanislav Grof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislav-grof/) > [ The witness of the three states of consciousness \[waking, dream and deep sleep\] and of the nature of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss is the Self ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adi-shankara/the-witness-of-the-three-states-of-consciousness-waking-dream-and/) [Adi Shankara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adi-shankara/) > [The states of consciousness are all that psychology needs to do her work with. Metaphysics or theology may prove the Soul to exist; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-states-of-consciousness-are-all-that-psychology-needs-to-do-her/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [When we pause to think, we are compelled to admit the existence of consciousness as the primal and surest fact. What we know of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-dresser/when-we-pause-to-think-we-are-compelled-to-admit-the-existence-of/) [Horatio Dresser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-dresser/) > [The Yoga Sutras offers a clear roadmap for the evolution of consciousness from ordinary states of awareness such as waking, dreaming, and sleeping -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/the-yoga-sutras-offers-a-clear-roadmap-for-the-evolution-of/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Certain drugs provide brief excursions into altered states of consciousness. The problem is that the perceptions and understandings that come from these experiences don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/certain-drugs-provide-brief-excursions-into-altered-states-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I explored alternate states of consciousness at one period of my life through psychedelics, as was the fashion with all my friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-explored-alternate-states-of-consciousness-at-one-period-of-my-life/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Some of the most exalted states of consciousness I experienced were in bed with someone, alone, or with my spiritual teacher. There was never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/some-of-the-most-exalted-states-of-consciousness-i-experienced-were/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Our society values alert, problem-solving consciousness, and it devalues all other states of consciousness. Any kind of consciousness that is not related to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/our-society-values-alert-problem-solving-consciousness-and-it/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [The wisdom obtained in the higher states of consciousness is different from that obtained by inference and testimony as it refers to particulars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patanjali/the-wisdom-obtained-in-the-higher-states-of-consciousness-is/) [Patanjali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patanjali/) > [Health and disease don't just happen to us. They are active processes issuing from inner harmony or disharmony, profoundly affected by our states of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-ferguson/health-and-disease-don-t-just-happen-to-us-they-are-active-processes/) [Marilyn Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-ferguson/) > [But to change all existence into a flow experience, it is not sufficient to learn merely how to control moment-by-moment states of consciousness. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/but-to-change-all-existence-into-a-flow-experience-it-is-not/) [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/) > [There are only two states of consciousness that exist - the state of the ego and the state of love. The ego is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/there-are-only-two-states-of-consciousness-that-exist-the-state-of/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Compassion is one of the highest states of consciousness that you can choose to assist you in times of enormous pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-ford/compassion-is-one-of-the-highest-states-of-consciousness-that-you-can/) [Debbie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-ford/) ## More by Mark Rothko > [Art to me is an anecdote of the spirit,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/art-to-me-is-an-anecdote-of-the-spirit/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [Without monsters and gods, art cannot enact a drama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/without-monsters-and-gods-art-cannot-enact-a-drama/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [Many of those who are driven to this life are desperately searching for those pockets of silence where we can root and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/many-of-those-who-are-driven-to-this-life-are-desperately-searching/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [It is really a matter of ending this silence and solitude, of breathing and stretching one's arms again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/it-is-really-a-matter-of-ending-this-silence-and-solitude-of/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [This would be a distortion of their meaning, since the pictures are intimate and intense, and are the opposite of what is decorative; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/this-would-be-a-distortion-of-their-meaning-since-the-pictures-are/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [The picture must be... a revelation, an unexpected and unprecedented resolution of an eternally familiar need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/the-picture-must-be-a-revelation-an-unexpected-and-unprecedented/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [To me art is an adventure into an unknown world, which can be explored only by those willing to take the risk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/to-me-art-is-an-adventure-into-an-unknown-world-which-can-be-explored/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/it-is-a-widely-accepted-notion-among-painters-that-it-does-not-matter/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [There is only one thing I fear in life, my friend: One day, the black will swallow the red.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/there-is-only-one-thing-i-fear-in-life-my-friend-one-day-the-black/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [I do not believe that there was ever a question of being abstract or representational. It is really a matter of ending this silence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/i-do-not-believe-that-there-was-ever-a-question-of-being-abstract-or/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [Art is an adventure into an unknown world, which can only be explored by those willing to take the risks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/art-is-an-adventure-into-an-unknown-world-which-can-only-be-explored/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [If our titles recall the known myths of antiquity, we have used them again because they are the eternal symbols upon which we must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/if-our-titles-recall-the-known-myths-of-antiquity-we-have-used-them/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [It is the poet and philosopher who provide the community of objectives in which the artist participates. Their chief preoccupation, like the artist, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/it-is-the-poet-and-philosopher-who-provide-the-community-of/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [The myth holds us, therefore, not through its romantic flavor, not the remembrance of beauty of some bygone age, not through the possibilities of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/the-myth-holds-us-therefore-not-through-its-romantic-flavor-not-the/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [If you are moved only by the color relationships, then you miss the point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/if-you-are-moved-only-by-the-color-relationships-then-you-miss-the/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) [Explore all 60 Mark Rothko quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) ## More Abstraction quotes > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [The premises from which we begin are not arbitrary ones, not dogmas, but real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-premises-from-which-we-begin-are-not-arbitrary-ones-not-dogmas/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [But we must not underestimate the potency of the mathematical process of abstraction. A surprising variety of things happen to have both magnitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banesh-hoffmann/but-we-must-not-underestimate-the-potency-of-the-mathematical-process/) Banesh Hoffmann > [Sometimes I start in a very realistic fashion, and as I go on from one painting to another of the same kind, it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/sometimes-i-start-in-a-very-realistic-fashion-and-as-i-go-on-from-one/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [I like residing in abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sufjan-stevens/i-like-residing-in-abstraction/) [Sufjan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sufjan-stevens/) > [Cancer begins and ends with people. In the midst of scientific abstraction, it is sometimes possible to forget this one basic fact. Doctors treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-goodfield/cancer-begins-and-ends-with-people-in-the-midst-of-scientific/) [June Goodfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-goodfield/) > [Yes, there was an element of abstraction and unreality in misfortune. But when an abstraction starts to kill you, you have to get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/yes-there-was-an-element-of-abstraction-and-unreality-in-misfortune/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the appropriate mechanizable techniques to solve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-aho/computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstraction-creating-the-right-model/) Alfred Aho > [In 'Self Comes to Mind' I pay a lot of attention to simple creatures without brains or minds, because those 'cartooned abstractions of who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/in-self-comes-to-mind-i-pay-a-lot-of-attention-to-simple-creatures/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [Don't get stuck on the level of words. A word is no more than a means to an end. It's an abstraction. Not unlike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/don-t-get-stuck-on-the-level-of-words-a-word-is-no-more-than-a-means/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [ I'd say that \[Louis\] Brandeis practiced a kind of a "living originalism," to use the title of Jack Balkin's great book. He said you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-rosen/i-d-say-that-louis-brandeis-practiced-a-kind-of-a-living-originalism/) [Jeffrey Rosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-rosen/) > [When novels deal in abstractions, they generally go off the rails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/when-novels-deal-in-abstractions-they-generally-go-off-the-rails/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) [Browse all 562 Abstraction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We are concerned with similar states of consciousness and relationship to the world.. ..If previous abstractions paralleled the scientific and objective preoccupations of our times, ours are finding a pictoral equivalent for man's new knowledge and consciousness of his more complex inner self.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Rothko" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/we-are-concerned-with-similar-states-of-consciousness-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abstraction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/we-are-concerned-with-similar-states-of-consciousness-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/516/mark-rothko-11292_abstraction_we-are-concerned-with-similar-states-of_2583547.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/516/mark-rothko-11292_abstraction_we-are-concerned-with-similar-states-of_2583547.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/516/mark-rothko-11292_abstraction_we-are-concerned-with-similar-states-of_2583547.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We are concerned with similar states of consciousness and relationship to the world.. ..If previous…” — Mark Rothko", "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": "Mark Rothko", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We are concerned with similar states...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/we-are-concerned-with-similar-states-of-consciousness-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/we-are-concerned-with-similar-states-of-consciousness-and/#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 } } ] } ```