--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Being established in my life, buttressed…" description: "\"Being established in my life, buttressed by my thinking nature, fastened down in this transcendental field which was opened for me by my first percepti..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/maurice-merleau-ponty-2834_absence_being-established-in-my-life-buttressed_2667096.jpg" --- # Being established in my life, buttressed by my thinking… ![“Being established in my life, buttressed by my thinking nature, fastened down in this transcendental field which was opened for me by my first perception, and in which all absence is merely the obverse of a presence, all silence a modality of the being of sound, I enjoy a sort of ubiquity and…” quote by Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/maurice-merleau-ponty-2834_absence_being-established-in-my-life-buttressed_2667096.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/maurice-merleau-ponty-2834_absence_being-established-in-my-life-buttressed_2667096.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/maurice-merleau-ponty-2834_absence_being-established-in-my-life-buttressed_2667096.jpg) > “Being established in my life, buttressed by my thinking nature, fastened down in this transcendental field which was opened for me by my first perception, and in which all absence is merely the obverse of a presence, all silence a modality of the being of sound, I enjoy a sort of ubiquity and theoretical eternity, I feel destined to move in a flow of endless life, neither the beginning nor the end of which I can experience in thought, since it is my living self who think of them, and since thus my life always precedes and survives itself.” [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He describes an endless, timeless flow of existence where absence and silence are merely aspects of presence and sound, emphasizing the continuity of thought and being. **In simple terms:** He sees life as an endless flow where thought precedes existence. Key Takeaway Embrace the continuity of thought. Themes existence time consciousness phenomenology Mood contemplative philosophical Type theoretical existential When to use this quote - meditative reflection - philosophical writing - spiritual contemplation Key Concepts eternity presence absence Questions to Reflect On - How does this view affect daily decisions? - Can you experience thought as preceding self? A Different Perspective May be abstract for practical use. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absence/) [Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/) [Endless life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endless-life/) [Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) [Flow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flow/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Perception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perception/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Transcendental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transcendental/) [Ubiquity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ubiquity/) ## Related quotes > [Only alone can you go into eternity. 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But philosophy is to be understood as experience and thought, not as mere reading or passive study.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/so-philosophy-purifies-the-will-but-philosophy-is-to-be-understood-as/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [A novel usually begins, in my experience, with a thought or image that won't leave me alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lanchester/a-novel-usually-begins-in-my-experience-with-a-thought-or-image-that/) [John Lanchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lanchester/) > [Do not feel that you are destined not to make that final liberation in this life. This is egotism in a reverse form. Don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/do-not-feel-that-you-are-destined-not-to-make-that-final-liberation/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [A little positive note for those who feel they're destined to fail. You'll probably fail at that too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-little-positive-note-for-those-who-feel-they-re-destined-to-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Maurice Merleau-Ponty > [Science manipulates things and gives up living in them. It makes its own limited models of things; operating upon these indices or variables to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/science-manipulates-things-and-gives-up-living-in-them-it-makes-its/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [“The unfinished nature of phenomenology and the inchoate style in which it proceeds are not the signs of failure; they were inevitable because phenomenology’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/the-unfinished-nature-of-phenomenology-and-the-inchoate-style-in/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [We should be sensitive to the thread of silence from which the tissue of speech is woven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/we-should-be-sensitive-to-the-thread-of-silence-from-which-the-tissue/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [“Man is hidden, well hidden, & this time we must make no mistake about it: this does not mean that he is there beneath…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/man-is-hidden-well-hidden-this-time-we-must-make-no-mistake-about-it/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [“There is no universal clock, but local histories take form beneath our eyes, and begin to regulate themselves, and haltingly are linked to one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/there-is-no-universal-clock-but-local-histories-take-form-beneath-our/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [We know not through our intellect but through our experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/we-know-not-through-our-intellect-but-through-our-experience/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [“There are several ways for a body to be a body, and several ways for consciousness to be consciousness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/there-are-several-ways-for-a-body-to-be-a-body-and-several-ways-for/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [“We do not have the right to level out all experience into a single world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/we-do-not-have-the-right-to-level-out-all-experience-into-a-single/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [“The world and reason are not problems; and though we might call them mysterious, this mystery is essential to them, there can be no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/the-world-and-reason-are-not-problems-and-though-we-might-call-them/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [“Memory is the irruption of other things in us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/memory-is-the-irruption-of-other-things-in-us/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [“Expression is like a step taken in the fog--no one can say where, if anywhere, it will lead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/expression-is-like-a-step-taken-in-the-fog-no-one-can-say-where-if/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [“Any commemoration is also a betrayal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/any-commemoration-is-also-a-betrayal/) [Maurice Merleau-Ponty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/) > [The full meaning of a language is never translatable into another. 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Ambedkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-r-ambedkar/) [Browse all 2,057 Absence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Being established in my life, buttressed by my thinking nature, fastened down in this transcendental field which was opened for me by my first perception, and in which all absence is merely the obverse of a presence, all silence a modality of the being of sound, I enjoy a sort of ubiquity and theoretical eternity, I feel destined to move in a flow of endless life, neither the beginning nor the end of which I can experience in thought, since it is my living self who think of them, and since thus my life always precedes and survives itself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Maurice Merleau-Ponty" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/being-established-in-my-life-buttressed-by-my-thinking-nature/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Absence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/being-established-in-my-life-buttressed-by-my-thinking-nature/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/maurice-merleau-ponty-2834_absence_being-established-in-my-life-buttressed_2667096.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/maurice-merleau-ponty-2834_absence_being-established-in-my-life-buttressed_2667096.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b5/maurice-merleau-ponty-2834_absence_being-established-in-my-life-buttressed_2667096.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Being established in my life, buttressed by my thinking nature, fastened down in this transcendental field…” — Maurice Merleau-Ponty", "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": "Maurice Merleau-Ponty", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-merleau-ponty/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Being established in my life, buttressed...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/being-established-in-my-life-buttressed-by-my-thinking-nature/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-merleau-ponty/being-established-in-my-life-buttressed-by-my-thinking-nature/#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 } } ] } ```