--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Whatever you see has the potential to…" description: "\"“Whatever you see has the potential to wound you, to make you less than you are, as if merely by seeing a thing some part of yourself were taken away f..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03e/paul-auster-351_wound_whatever-you-see-has-the-potential-to-wo_452591.jpg" --- # Whatever you see has the potential to wound you, to make… ![“Whatever you see has the potential to wound you, to make you less than you are, as if merely by seeing a thing some part of yourself were taken away from you.” quote by Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03e/paul-auster-351_wound_whatever-you-see-has-the-potential-to-wo_452591.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03e/paul-auster-351_wound_whatever-you-see-has-the-potential-to-wo_452591.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03e/paul-auster-351_wound_whatever-you-see-has-the-potential-to-wo_452591.jpg) > ““Whatever you see has the potential to wound you, to make you less than you are, as if merely by seeing a thing some part of yourself were taken away from you.”” [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Seeing can cause emotional injury, stripping parts of self-identity. **In simple terms:** Seeing can wound and diminish you. Key Takeaway Guard your perception and emotional health. Themes perception vulnerability identity psychology Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical psychological When to use this quote - art criticism - therapy - personal relationships Key Concepts existentialism self-concept trauma Questions to Reflect On - What do you protect from harmful perception? - How can you heal after a painful insight? A Different Perspective Not all experiences are harmful; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Merely Seeing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/merely-seeing-3861548/) [Potential Wound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/potential-wound-3947261/) [Taken Away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken-away/) [Thing Taken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-taken-2590278/) [Wound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wound/) ## Related quotes > [If something makes you happy in this world, you should think of what will happen to you if that thing were taken away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/if-something-makes-you-happy-in-this-world-you-should-think-of-what/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“there's a world of difference between merely seeing a thing and knowing what it is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naoki-higashida/there-s-a-world-of-difference-between-merely-seeing-a-thing-and/) [Naoki Higashida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naoki-higashida/) > [Age is too non-serious a thing to be taken seriously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasneem-hameed/age-is-too-non-serious-a-thing-to-be-taken-seriously/) [Tasneem Hameed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tasneem-hameed/) > [While you have a thing it can be taken from you…..but when you give it, you have given it. no robber can take it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/while-you-have-a-thing-it-can-be-taken-from-you-but-when-you-give-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Prayer is a serious thing. We may be taken at our words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-l-moody/prayer-is-a-serious-thing-we-may-be-taken-at-our-words/) [Dwight L. Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-l-moody/) > [Nothing that had happened in the past could be taken away. This was an amazing gift. 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I almost died. My show was taken away from me. I was frightened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eileen-brennan/i-was-hit-by-a-car-i-almost-died-my-show-was-taken-away-from-me-i-was/) [Eileen Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eileen-brennan/) > [“I enjoy life so much more now, and I try hard to appreciate each and every day, but deep down I am still afraid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaycee-dugard/i-enjoy-life-so-much-more-now-and-i-try-hard-to-appreciate-each-and/) [Jaycee Dugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaycee-dugard/) > [I can be taken away from myself quite easily, I kind of start betraying myself and compromising my integrity, to keep someone else happy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-lou-wood/i-can-be-taken-away-from-myself-quite-easily-i-kind-of-start/) [Aimee Lou Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-lou-wood/) ## More by Paul Auster > [“On his best walks, he was able to feel that he was nowhere. And this, finally, was all he ever asked of things: to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/on-his-best-walks-he-was-able-to-feel-that-he-was-nowhere-and-this/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“No es que escribir me produzca un gran placer, pero es mucho peor si no lo hago.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/no-es-que-escribir-me-produzca-un-gran-placer-pero-es-mucho-peor-si/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [You see, the interesting thing about books, as opposed, say, to films, is that it's always just one person encountering the book, it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/you-see-the-interesting-thing-about-books-as-opposed-say-to-films-is/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I'm not a man deeply interested in technology. It eludes me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-m-not-a-man-deeply-interested-in-technology-it-eludes-me/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [The joke is the purest, most essential form of storytelling. Every word has to count.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-joke-is-the-purest-most-essential-form-of-storytelling-every-word/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“What people saw when he appeared before them, then, was not really him, but a person he had invented, an artificial creature he could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/what-people-saw-when-he-appeared-before-them-then-was-not-really-him/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I had made an empirical discovery and it carried all the weight of a mathematical proof.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-had-made-an-empirical-discovery-and-it-carried-all-the-weight-of-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [As long as there's one person to believe it, there's no story that can't be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/as-long-as-there-s-one-person-to-believe-it-there-s-no-story-that-can/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Writing has always had a tactile quality for me. It's a physical experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/writing-has-always-had-a-tactile-quality-for-me-it-s-a-physical/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [People look at the same passage, and one person will say this is the best thing he's ever read, and another person will say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/people-look-at-the-same-passage-and-one-person-will-say-this-is-the/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I was very moved to see that the name of the boat was Hamlet - an imaginary character becomes so important to people, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-was-very-moved-to-see-that-the-name-of-the-boat-was-hamlet-an/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Our lifelong certainties about the world can be demolished in a single second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/our-lifelong-certainties-about-the-world-can-be-demolished-in-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [The ideal reader's the same, and I suppose this person has never had a face or a gender or an age. It's just some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-ideal-reader-s-the-same-and-i-suppose-this-person-has-never-had-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“Most lives vanish. A person dies, and little by little all traces of that life disappear. An inventor survives in his inventions, an architect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/most-lives-vanish-a-person-dies-and-little-by-little-all-traces-of/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“and cut down many trees. When the Humans”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/and-cut-down-many-trees-when-the-humans/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) [Explore all 582 Paul Auster quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) ## More Wound quotes > [Tell the truth about your wound, and then you will get a truthful picture of the remedy to apply to it. Don't pack whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/tell-the-truth-about-your-wound-and-then-you-will-get-a-truthful/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [STAB WOUND!! You will see blood, BUT lovesickness you will see only tear from your eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/stab-wound-you-will-see-blood-but-lovesickness-you-will-see-only-tear/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I hid my wound under my clothes. Nobody could see it, including myself, and I completely forgot about it. Then I met someone who,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franco-santoro/i-hid-my-wound-under-my-clothes-nobody-could-see-it-including-myself/) [Franco Santoro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franco-santoro/) > [“The WOUND of LOVE In our wound-ships and romances, we make something of others that they are not, we make them what we want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padma-aon-prakasha/the-wound-of-love-in-our-wound-ships-and-romances-we-make-something/) [Padma Aon Prakasha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padma-aon-prakasha/) > [When you have an open wound, it's festering and hurting constantly. Then it finally heals and then becomes a scar. Well, pretty soon you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-camp/when-you-have-an-open-wound-it-s-festering-and-hurting-constantly/) [Jeremy Camp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-camp/) > [To be honest, we have no control over what's going on with a movie, much less what people are going to think of it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-mills/to-be-honest-we-have-no-control-over-what-s-going-on-with-a-movie/) [Mike Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-mills/) > [Some wounds are too deep to heal, or too deep to heal quickly. In addition, many memories are simply painful, and there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-wounds-are-too-deep-to-heal-or-too-deep-to-heal-quickly-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Within wounds there is valor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/within-wounds-there-is-valor/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“I wanted her note to say that I was a red hole dug out of the guts of her, a seeping wound that hadn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshilyn-jackson/i-wanted-her-note-to-say-that-i-was-a-red-hole-dug-out-of-the-guts-of/) [Joshilyn Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshilyn-jackson/) > [“Every wound is a word.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/every-wound-is-a-word/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“Our wound is serious, but the Physician is all-powerful. Does it seem to you so small a mercy that, while you were living in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine-of-hippo/our-wound-is-serious-but-the-physician-is-all-powerful-does-it-seem/) [Saint Augustine of Hippo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine-of-hippo/) > [Who said that time heals all wounds? It would be better to say that time heals everything - except wounds. With time, the hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-marker/who-said-that-time-heals-all-wounds-it-would-be-better-to-say-that/) [Chris Marker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-marker/) > [We can rarely tell others what we really think about them--not just because it would so wound them, but also because it would so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-kennedy/we-can-rarely-tell-others-what-we-really-think-about-them-not-just/) [Douglas Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-kennedy/) > [Thanks, but that's not going to fix anything. 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Are, are, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danity-kane/do-do-you-got-a-first-aid-kit-handy-do-do-you-know-how-to-patch-up-a/) [Danity Kane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danity-kane/) [Browse all 497 Wound quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wound/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Whatever you see has the potential to wound you, to make you less than you are, as if merely by seeing a thing some part of yourself were taken away from you.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Auster" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/whatever-you-see-has-the-potential-to-wound-you-to-make-you-less-than/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Wound" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/whatever-you-see-has-the-potential-to-wound-you-to-make-you-less-than/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03e/paul-auster-351_wound_whatever-you-see-has-the-potential-to-wo_452591.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03e/paul-auster-351_wound_whatever-you-see-has-the-potential-to-wo_452591.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03e/paul-auster-351_wound_whatever-you-see-has-the-potential-to-wo_452591.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Whatever you see has the potential to wound you, to make you less than you are, as if merely by seeing a…” — Paul Auster", "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": "Paul Auster", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Whatever you see has the potential...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/whatever-you-see-has-the-potential-to-wound-you-to-make-you-less-than/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/whatever-you-see-has-the-potential-to-wound-you-to-make-you-less-than/#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 } } ] } ```