--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I had long wanted to see “true” indigo…" description: "\"“I had long wanted to see “true” indigo, and thought that drugs might be the way to do this. So one sunny Saturday in 1964, I developed a pharmacologic..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b85/oliver-sacks-2132_ancient-egyptian_i-had-long-wanted-to-see-true-indigo-and_503462.jpg" --- # I had long wanted to see “true” indigo, and thought that… ![“I had long wanted to see “true” indigo, and thought that drugs might be the way to do this. So one sunny Saturday in 1964, I developed a pharmacologic launchpad consisting of a base of amphetamine (for general arousal), LSD (for hallucinogenic intensity), and a touch of cannabis (for a little…” quote by Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b85/oliver-sacks-2132_ancient-egyptian_i-had-long-wanted-to-see-true-indigo-and_503462.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b85/oliver-sacks-2132_ancient-egyptian_i-had-long-wanted-to-see-true-indigo-and_503462.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b85/oliver-sacks-2132_ancient-egyptian_i-had-long-wanted-to-see-true-indigo-and_503462.jpg) > ““I had long wanted to see “true” indigo, and thought that drugs might be the way to do this. So one sunny Saturday in 1964, I developed a pharmacologic launchpad consisting of a base of amphetamine (for general arousal), LSD (for hallucinogenic intensity), and a touch of cannabis (for a little added delirium). About twenty minutes after taking this, I faced a white wall and exclaimed, “I want to see indigo now—now!” And then, as if thrown by a giant paintbrush, there appeared a huge, trembling, pear-shaped blob of the purest indigo. Luminous, numinous, it filled me with rapture: It was the color of heaven, the color, I thought, which Giotto had spent a lifetime trying to get but never achieved—never achieved, perhaps, because the color of heaven is not to be seen on earth. But it had existed once, I thought—it was the color of the Paleozoic sea, the color the ocean used to be. I leaned toward it in a sort of ecstasy. And then it suddenly disappeared, leaving me with an overwhelming sense of loss and sadness that it had been snatched away. But I consoled myself: Yes, indigo exists, and it can be conjured up in the brain. For months afterward, I searched for indigo. I turned over little stones and rocks near my house, looking for it. I examined specimens of azurite in the natural history museum—but even they were infinitely far from the color I had seen. And then, in 1965, when I had moved to New York, I went to a concert in the Egyptology gallery of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the first half, a Monteverdi piece was performed, and I was utterly transported. I had taken no drugs, but I felt a glorious river of music, four hundred years long, flowing from Monteverdi’s mind into my own. In this ecstatic mood, I wandered out during the intermission and looked at the ancient Egyptian objects on display—lapis lazuli amulets, jewelry, and so forth—and I was enchanted to see glints of indigo. I thought: Thank God, it really exists! During the second half of the concert, I got a bit bored and restless, but I consoled myself, knowing that I could go out and take a “sip” of indigo afterward. It would be there, waiting for me. But when I went out to look at the gallery after the concert was finished, I could see only blue and purple and mauve and puce—no indigo. That was nearly fifty years ago, and I have never seen indigo again.”” [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator describes a drug‑induced vision of a perfect indigo hue, linking it to artistic longing and the fleeting nature of transcendent experiences. **In simple terms:** A drug‑induced vision of indigo shows how the mind can create profound, temporary beauty. Key Takeaway Seek meaning in fleeting moments. Themes perception art psychedelia loss longing Mood wonder melancholy awe Type philosophical memoir psychedelic When to use this quote - Creative inspiration - museum visits - musical immersion - personal quest for color Key Concepts Neurochemistry Aesthetic experience Temporal transcendence Questions to Reflect On - How do expectations shape our sensory experiences? - Can non‑drug states replicate such vivid color visions? A Different Perspective The experience may be heavily biased by expectation and substance, limiting its general relevance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancient egyptian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient-egyptian/) [Natural history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-history/) ## Related quotes > [“Whenever I think about ancient cultures nostalgia seizes me. Perhaps this is nothing but envy of the sweet slowness of the history of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/whenever-i-think-about-ancient-cultures-nostalgia-seizes-me-perhaps/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Ancient Egyptian culture was so enduring. It went on for thousands of years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-gates/ancient-egyptian-culture-was-so-enduring-it-went-on-for-thousands-of/) [Josh Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-gates/) > [“The ancient Egyptian/Roman Judeo-Christian religion was based on witnessing death and resurrection of its god. The Osirian heritage were passed down to the Roman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibrahim-ibrahim/the-ancient-egyptian-roman-judeo-christian-religion-was-based-on/) [Ibrahim Ibrahim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibrahim-ibrahim/) > [If there is a tendency in modern television I hate, it is the unstoppable march of the dramatic reconstruction to tell the stories of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-macdonald/if-there-is-a-tendency-in-modern-television-i-hate-it-is-the/) [Kevin Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-macdonald/) > [Ancient Egyptian women had rights under the law. They could own land. Many were literate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bettany-hughes/ancient-egyptian-women-had-rights-under-the-law-they-could-own-land/) [Bettany Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bettany-hughes/) > [“James Ussher states in The Epistle to the Reader of his treatise The Annals of the World: Moreover, we find that the years of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ham/james-ussher-states-in-the-epistle-to-the-reader-of-his-treatise-the/) [Ken Ham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ham/) > [“What a vapid job title our culture gives to those honorable laborers the ancient Egyptians and Sumerians variously called Learned Men of the Magic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-harvey/what-a-vapid-job-title-our-culture-gives-to-those-honorable-laborers/) Miles Harvey > [“I am your servant. I shall not be free. You will protect me; you will keep me safe; you will guard me. You will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ancient-egyptian-slave-contract/i-am-your-servant-i-shall-not-be-free-you-will-protect-me-you-will/) Ancient Egyptian slave contract > [“The two pillars of Freemasonry are Osirian in origin and none of them corresponds with the Sun; and yes, Freemasonry mistook one of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibrahim-ibrahim/the-two-pillars-of-freemasonry-are-osirian-in-origin-and-none-of-them/) [Ibrahim Ibrahim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibrahim-ibrahim/) > [In the imperfect records left of the anatomy of the ancient Egyptians, no trace of any knowledge of the spleen can be ascertained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-gray/in-the-imperfect-records-left-of-the-anatomy-of-the-ancient-egyptians/) [Henry Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-gray/) > [“Even gods decay. Like, in 1890 somebody sold off thousands of mummified Ancient Egyptian sacred cats - \_for fertilizer\_. Get the point? Constancy isn't.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-gash/even-gods-decay-like-in-1890-somebody-sold-off-thousands-of-mummified/) [Jonathan Gash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-gash/) > [I've visited the future and I've seen the Heavenly City standing upon this Earth!-Beautiful, gorgeous, incomparable, almost indescribable, the most gorgeous sight you'll ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berg/i-ve-visited-the-future-and-i-ve-seen-the-heavenly-city-standing-upon/) [David Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berg/) > [“Save for the ancient Egyptians, he found, virtually no one kept cats as pets until the latter part of the 1700s. The first people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-mcauliffe/save-for-the-ancient-egyptians-he-found-virtually-no-one-kept-cats-as/) [Kathleen McAuliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-mcauliffe/) > [In many traditions, hawks are sacred: Apollo's messengers for the Greeks, sun symbols for the ancient Egyptians and, in the case of the Lakota…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/in-many-traditions-hawks-are-sacred-apollo-s-messengers-for-the/) [John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/) > [“The term Greek philosophy, to begin with is a misnomer, for there is no such philosophy in existence. The ancient Egyptians had developed a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-g-m-james/the-term-greek-philosophy-to-begin-with-is-a-misnomer-for-there-is-no/) George G.M. James ## More by Oliver Sacks > [“The feelings are similar, in some ways, to those one has in Rome or Athens, but quite different in other ways, because this culture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/the-feelings-are-similar-in-some-ways-to-those-one-has-in-rome-or/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [But the saddest difference between them was that Zazetsky, as Luria said, 'fought to regain his lost faculties with the indomitable tenacity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/but-the-saddest-difference-between-them-was-that-zazetsky-as-luria/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears - it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/music-can-lift-us-out-of-depression-or-move-us-to-tears-it-is-a/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [“We have five senses in which we glory and which we recognise and celebrate, senses that constitute the sensible world for us. But there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/we-have-five-senses-in-which-we-glory-and-which-we-recognise-and/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [“But it must be said from the outset that a disease is never a mere loss or excess— that there is always a reaction,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/but-it-must-be-said-from-the-outset-that-a-disease-is-never-a-mere/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [There is no one part of the brain which recognizes or responds emotionally to music. Instead, there are many different parts responding to different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/there-is-no-one-part-of-the-brain-which-recognizes-or-responds/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [I think there is no culture in which music is not very important and central. That's why I think of us as a sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/i-think-there-is-no-culture-in-which-music-is-not-very-important-and/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [Who cared if there was really any Being to pray to? What mattered was the sense of giving thanks and praise, the feeling of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/who-cared-if-there-was-really-any-being-to-pray-to-what-mattered-was/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [“unconscious motives may sometimes ally themselves to physiological propensities, of how one cannot abstract an ailment or its treatment from the whole pattern, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/unconscious-motives-may-sometimes-ally-themselves-to-physiological/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [“We have, each of us, a life-story, an inner narrative — whose continuity, whose sense, is our lives. It might be said that each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/we-have-each-of-us-a-life-story-an-inner-narrative-whose-continuity/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [I regard music therapy as a tool of great power in many neurological disorders -- Parkinson's and Alzheimer's -- because of its unique capacity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/i-regard-music-therapy-as-a-tool-of-great-power-in-many-neurological/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [Psychotic hallucinations, whether they are visual or vocal, they address you. They accuse you. They seduce you. They humiliate you. They jeer at you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/psychotic-hallucinations-whether-they-are-visual-or-vocal-they/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [Much more of the brain is devoted to movement than to language. Language is only a little thing sitting on top of this huge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/much-more-of-the-brain-is-devoted-to-movement-than-to-language/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [About 10 percent of the hearing impaired get musical hallucinations, and about 10 percent of the visually impaired get visual hallucinations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/about-10-percent-of-the-hearing-impaired-get-musical-hallucinations/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [The rhythm of music is very, very important for people with Parkinson's. But it's also very important with other sorts of patients, such as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/the-rhythm-of-music-is-very-very-important-for-people-with-parkinson/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) [Explore all 177 Oliver Sacks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) ## More Ancient egyptian quotes > [“Whenever I think about ancient cultures nostalgia seizes me. Perhaps this is nothing but envy of the sweet slowness of the history of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/whenever-i-think-about-ancient-cultures-nostalgia-seizes-me-perhaps/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [In many traditions, hawks are sacred: Apollo's messengers for the Greeks, sun symbols for the ancient Egyptians and, in the case of the Lakota…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnside/in-many-traditions-hawks-are-sacred-apollo-s-messengers-for-the/) [John Burnside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnside/) > [“Save for the ancient Egyptians, he found, virtually no one kept cats as pets until the latter part of the 1700s. The first people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-mcauliffe/save-for-the-ancient-egyptians-he-found-virtually-no-one-kept-cats-as/) [Kathleen McAuliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-mcauliffe/) > [I've visited the future and I've seen the Heavenly City standing upon this Earth!-Beautiful, gorgeous, incomparable, almost indescribable, the most gorgeous sight you'll ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berg/i-ve-visited-the-future-and-i-ve-seen-the-heavenly-city-standing-upon/) [David Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berg/) > [“Even gods decay. Like, in 1890 somebody sold off thousands of mummified Ancient Egyptian sacred cats - \_for fertilizer\_. Get the point? Constancy isn't.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-gash/even-gods-decay-like-in-1890-somebody-sold-off-thousands-of-mummified/) [Jonathan Gash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-gash/) > [In the imperfect records left of the anatomy of the ancient Egyptians, no trace of any knowledge of the spleen can be ascertained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-gray/in-the-imperfect-records-left-of-the-anatomy-of-the-ancient-egyptians/) [Henry Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-gray/) > [“The two pillars of Freemasonry are Osirian in origin and none of them corresponds with the Sun; and yes, Freemasonry mistook one of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibrahim-ibrahim/the-two-pillars-of-freemasonry-are-osirian-in-origin-and-none-of-them/) [Ibrahim Ibrahim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibrahim-ibrahim/) > [“I am your servant. I shall not be free. You will protect me; you will keep me safe; you will guard me. You will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ancient-egyptian-slave-contract/i-am-your-servant-i-shall-not-be-free-you-will-protect-me-you-will/) Ancient Egyptian slave contract > [“What a vapid job title our culture gives to those honorable laborers the ancient Egyptians and Sumerians variously called Learned Men of the Magic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-harvey/what-a-vapid-job-title-our-culture-gives-to-those-honorable-laborers/) Miles Harvey > [“James Ussher states in The Epistle to the Reader of his treatise The Annals of the World: Moreover, we find that the years of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ham/james-ussher-states-in-the-epistle-to-the-reader-of-his-treatise-the/) [Ken Ham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ham/) > [Ancient Egyptian women had rights under the law. They could own land. Many were literate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bettany-hughes/ancient-egyptian-women-had-rights-under-the-law-they-could-own-land/) [Bettany Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bettany-hughes/) > [If there is a tendency in modern television I hate, it is the unstoppable march of the dramatic reconstruction to tell the stories of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-macdonald/if-there-is-a-tendency-in-modern-television-i-hate-it-is-the/) [Kevin Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-macdonald/) > [“The ancient Egyptian/Roman Judeo-Christian religion was based on witnessing death and resurrection of its god. The Osirian heritage were passed down to the Roman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibrahim-ibrahim/the-ancient-egyptian-roman-judeo-christian-religion-was-based-on/) [Ibrahim Ibrahim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibrahim-ibrahim/) > [Ancient Egyptian culture was so enduring. It went on for thousands of years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-gates/ancient-egyptian-culture-was-so-enduring-it-went-on-for-thousands-of/) [Josh Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-gates/) > [“The term Greek philosophy, to begin with is a misnomer, for there is no such philosophy in existence. The ancient Egyptians had developed a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-g-m-james/the-term-greek-philosophy-to-begin-with-is-a-misnomer-for-there-is-no/) George G.M. James [Browse all 91 Ancient egyptian quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient-egyptian/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I had long wanted to see “true” indigo, and thought that drugs might be the way to do this. So one sunny Saturday in 1964, I developed a pharmacologic launchpad consisting of a base of amphetamine (for general arousal), LSD (for hallucinogenic intensity), and a touch of cannabis (for a little added delirium). About twenty minutes after taking this, I faced a white wall and exclaimed, “I want to see indigo now—now!” And then, as if thrown by a giant paintbrush, there appeared a huge, trembling, pear-shaped blob of the purest indigo. Luminous, numinous, it filled me with rapture: It was the color of heaven, the color, I thought, which Giotto had spent a lifetime trying to get but never achieved—never achieved, perhaps, because the color of heaven is not to be seen on earth. But it had existed once, I thought—it was the color of the Paleozoic sea, the color the ocean used to be. I leaned toward it in a sort of ecstasy. And then it suddenly disappeared, leaving me with an overwhelming sense of loss and sadness that it had been snatched away. But I consoled myself: Yes, indigo exists, and it can be conjured up in the brain. For months afterward, I searched for indigo. I turned over little stones and rocks near my house, looking for it. I examined specimens of azurite in the natural history museum—but even they were infinitely far from the color I had seen. And then, in 1965, when I had moved to New York, I went to a concert in the Egyptology gallery of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the first half, a Monteverdi piece was performed, and I was utterly transported. I had taken no drugs, but I felt a glorious river of music, four hundred years long, flowing from Monteverdi’s mind into my own. In this ecstatic mood, I wandered out during the intermission and looked at the ancient Egyptian objects on display—lapis lazuli amulets, jewelry, and so forth—and I was enchanted to see glints of indigo. I thought: Thank God, it really exists! During the second half of the concert, I got a bit bored and restless, but I consoled myself, knowing that I could go out and take a “sip” of indigo afterward. It would be there, waiting for me. But when I went out to look at the gallery after the concert was finished, I could see only blue and purple and mauve and puce—no indigo. That was nearly fifty years ago, and I have never seen indigo again.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Oliver Sacks" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/i-had-long-wanted-to-see-true-indigo-and-thought-that-drugs-might-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ancient egyptian" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/i-had-long-wanted-to-see-true-indigo-and-thought-that-drugs-might-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b85/oliver-sacks-2132_ancient-egyptian_i-had-long-wanted-to-see-true-indigo-and_503462.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b85/oliver-sacks-2132_ancient-egyptian_i-had-long-wanted-to-see-true-indigo-and_503462.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b85/oliver-sacks-2132_ancient-egyptian_i-had-long-wanted-to-see-true-indigo-and_503462.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I had long wanted to see “true” indigo, and thought that drugs might be the way to do this. So one sunny…” — Oliver Sacks", "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": "Oliver Sacks", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I had long wanted to see...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/i-had-long-wanted-to-see-true-indigo-and-thought-that-drugs-might-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/i-had-long-wanted-to-see-true-indigo-and-thought-that-drugs-might-be/#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 } } ] } ```