Allegory Of The Cave Quote by P.D. Ouspensky
““You see, all our ordinary views of things are no good, they do not lead anywhere. It is necessary to think differently, and this means to see things we do not see now, and not to see things we see now. And this last is perhaps the most difficult, because we are accustomed to see certain things: it is a great sacrifice not to see the things we are accustomed to see. We are accustomed to think that we live in a more or less comfortable world. Certainly there are unpleasant things, such as wars and revolutions, but on the whole it is a comfortable and well-meaning world. It is most difficult to get rid of this idea of a well-meaning world. And then we must understand that we do not see things themselves at all. We see like in Plato’s allegory of the cave only the reflections of things, so that what we see has lost all reality. We must realize how often we are governed and controlled not by the things themselves but by our ideas of things, our views of things, our picture of things. This is the most interesting thing. Try to think about it.””
About This Quote
Source Book: In Search of the Miraculous, 1949
We see only reflections, not reality; thinking differently requires abandoning familiar comforts.
In simple terms: We perceive shadows, not truth; changing thought is hard.
Key Takeaway
Question assumptions and seek deeper truth.
Themes
philosophy
perception
critical thinking
Mood
provocative
introspective
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- education
- art criticism
- personal growth
- social reform
Key Concepts
Plato’s cave
cognitive bias
Questions to Reflect On
- What comforts blind you?
- How can you see beyond familiar shadows?
A Different Perspective
Seeing only reflections can lead to complacency.
