---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What Degas called 'a way of seeing' must…"
description: "\"What Degas called 'a way of seeing' must consequently bear a wide enough interpretation to include way of being, power, knowledge, and will.\" — Paul Va..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/338/paul-valery-1464_bears_what-degas-called-a-way-of-seeing-must-c_1899616.jpg"
---

#  What Degas called 'a way of seeing' must consequently bear…

![“What Degas called 'a way of seeing' must consequently bear a wide enough interpretation to include way of being, power, knowledge, and will.” quote by Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/338/paul-valery-1464_bears_what-degas-called-a-way-of-seeing-must-c_1899616.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/338/paul-valery-1464_bears_what-degas-called-a-way-of-seeing-must-c_1899616.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/338/paul-valery-1464_bears_what-degas-called-a-way-of-seeing-must-c_1899616.jpg)

> “What Degas called 'a way of seeing' must consequently bear a wide enough interpretation to include way of being, power, knowledge, and will.”

[Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Seeing involves perception, existence, power, knowledge, and will, requiring broad interpretation.

**In simple terms:** Seeing is more than sight; it includes being and power.

Key Takeaway

Embrace a holistic view of perception.

Themes

perception existence power knowledge will

Mood

reflective introspective

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- art critique
- personal development
- leadership
- education

Key Concepts

philosophy epistemology ontology

Questions to Reflect On

- How does your perception shape your actions?
- In what ways can power influence how we see?

A Different Perspective

Interpretation can be too vague, losing practical focus.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degas/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Interpretation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interpretation/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Seeing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing/) [Seeing Consequently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seeing-consequently-2795296/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Way Seeing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way-seeing-618709/) [Wide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wide/) [Wide Interpretation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wide-interpretation-2795295/)

## Related quotes

> [Poetry is not a code to be broken but a way of seeing with the eyes shut.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-pastan/poetry-is-not-a-code-to-be-broken-but-a-way-of-seeing-with-the-eyes/)

[Linda Pastan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-pastan/)

> [Privilege has its own way of seeing the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-shearer/privilege-has-its-own-way-of-seeing-the-world/)

[Harry Shearer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-shearer/)

> [“When the old way of seeing was displaced, a hollowness came into architecture. Our buildings show a constant effort to fill that void, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-hale/when-the-old-way-of-seeing-was-displaced-a-hollowness-came-into-2/)

[Jonathan Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-hale/)

> [What is art but a way of seeing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/what-is-art-but-a-way-of-seeing/)

[Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/)

> [Above all, we ask the poet to teach us a way of seeing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/above-all-we-ask-the-poet-to-teach-us-a-way-of-seeing/)

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

> [But we have been taught to see before our eyes have found out a way of seeing for themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-symons/but-we-have-been-taught-to-see-before-our-eyes-have-found-out-a-way/)

[Arthur Symons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-symons/)

> [We were raised to believe that our way of seeing the world was the only way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-phelps-roper/we-were-raised-to-believe-that-our-way-of-seeing-the-world-was-the/)

[Megan Phelps-Roper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-phelps-roper/)

> [My destination is no longer a place, rather a new way of seeing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/my-destination-is-no-longer-a-place-rather-a-new-way-of-seeing/)

[Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/)

> [“One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/one-s-destination-is-never-a-place-but-a-new-way-of-seeing-things/)

[Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/)

> [A way of seeing is also a way of not seeing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-burke/a-way-of-seeing-is-also-a-way-of-not-seeing/)

[Kenneth Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-burke/)

> [“remember that there's always another way of seeing things: that's the beginning of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barth/remember-that-there-s-always-another-way-of-seeing-things-that-s-the/)

[John Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barth/)

> [The older you get, the more you are aware that everybody has a certain way of seeing things, which they have to honour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/the-older-you-get-the-more-you-are-aware-that-everybody-has-a-certain/)

[Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/)

> [“Too much looking can get in the way of seeing".”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/too-much-looking-can-get-in-the-way-of-seeing/)

[Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/)

> [Not only is there but one way of doing things rightly, but there is only one way of seeing them, and that is, seeing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/not-only-is-there-but-one-way-of-doing-things-rightly-but-there-is/)

[John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/)

> [Cameras get in the way of seeing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/le-corbusier/cameras-get-in-the-way-of-seeing/)

[Le Corbusier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/le-corbusier/)

## More by Paul Valery

> [In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished a word that for them has no sense but abandoned; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/in-the-eyes-of-those-lovers-of-perfection-a-work-is-never-finished-a/)

[Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/)

> [“O Socrates, the universe cannot for one instant endure to be only what it is. It is strange to think that that which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/o-socrates-the-universe-cannot-for-one-instant-endure-to-be-only-what/)

[Paul Valéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/)

> [We civilizations now know ourselves mortal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/we-civilizations-now-know-ourselves-mortal/)

[Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/)

> [It seems to me that the soul, when alone with itself and speaking to itself, uses only a small number of words, none of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/it-seems-to-me-that-the-soul-when-alone-with-itself-and-speaking-to/)

[Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/)

> [Serious people have few ideas. People with ideas are never serious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/serious-people-have-few-ideas-people-with-ideas-are-never-serious/)

[Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/)

> [“I am now going to make an admission. I confess, I agree, that all these good people who protested, who laughed, who did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/i-am-now-going-to-make-an-admission-i-confess-i-agree-that-all-these/)

[Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/)

> [“Degas is one of the very few painters who have given the floor its true importance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/degas-is-one-of-the-very-few-painters-who-have-given-the-floor-its/)

[Paul Valéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/)

> [Politics is the art of preventing people from busying themselves with what is their own business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/politics-is-the-art-of-preventing-people-from-busying-themselves-with/)

[Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/)

> [God created man and, finding him not sufficiently alone, gave him a companion to make him feel his solitude more keenly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/god-created-man-and-finding-him-not-sufficiently-alone-gave-him-a/)

[Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/)

> [The most ridiculous were those who, on their own authority, made themselves the judges and justices of the tribe. They seemed never to suspect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/the-most-ridiculous-were-those-who-on-their-own-authority-made/)

[Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/)

> [The folly of mistaking oneself for an oracle is built right into us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/the-folly-of-mistaking-oneself-for-an-oracle-is-built-right-into-us/)

[Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/)

> [Thought must be hidden in the verse like nutritional virtue in a fruit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/thought-must-be-hidden-in-the-verse-like-nutritional-virtue-in-a-fruit/)

[Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/)

> [To be sincere means to be the same person when one is with oneself; that is to say, alone - but that is all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/to-be-sincere-means-to-be-the-same-person-when-one-is-with-oneself/)

[Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/)

> [No work of art is ever completed, it is only abandoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/no-work-of-art-is-ever-completed-it-is-only-abandoned/)

[Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/)

> [Interruption, incoherence, surprise are the ordinary conditions of our life. They have even become real needs for many people, whose minds are no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/interruption-incoherence-surprise-are-the-ordinary-conditions-of-our/)

[Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/)

[Explore all 215 Paul Valery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/)

## More Artist quotes

> [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/)

[Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/)

> [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/)

[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/)

> [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/)

[Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/)

> [“People in coats and ties were milling around the Talley gallery, and on the wall were the minimally rendered still lifes by Giorgio Morandi,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/people-in-coats-and-ties-were-milling-around-the-talley-gallery-and/)

[Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/)

> [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/)

[Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/)

> [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/)

[Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/)

> [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/)

[Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/)

> [From as long as I can remember, I was always fond of drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/from-as-long-as-i-can-remember-i-was-always-fond-of-drawing/)

[St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/)

> [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/)

[G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/)

> [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/)

[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/)

> [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/)

[Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/)

> [Designers shouldn’t design for museums any more than mummies should die for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-caplan/designers-shouldn-t-design-for-museums-any-more-than-mummies-should/)

[Ralph Caplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-caplan/)

> [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. Who has the authority to say someone is better?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-believe-in-competitions-between-artists-this-is-insane-who/)

[Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/)

> [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/)

[Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/)

> [I am a horrible visual artist. I can't fix a car, sew, knit, cook, etc. Statistically, there is more I don't do than do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-am-a-horrible-visual-artist-i-can-t-fix-a-car-sew-knit-cook-etc/)

[Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/)

[Browse all 32,600 Artist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "What Degas called 'a way of seeing' must consequently bear a wide enough interpretation to include way of being, power, knowledge, and will.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Paul Valery"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/what-degas-called-a-way-of-seeing-must-consequently-bear-a-wide/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Artist"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/what-degas-called-a-way-of-seeing-must-consequently-bear-a-wide/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/338/paul-valery-1464_bears_what-degas-called-a-way-of-seeing-must-c_1899616.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/338/paul-valery-1464_bears_what-degas-called-a-way-of-seeing-must-c_1899616.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/338/paul-valery-1464_bears_what-degas-called-a-way-of-seeing-must-c_1899616.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“What Degas called 'a way of seeing' must consequently bear a wide enough interpretation to include way of…” — Paul Valery",
                "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 Valery",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "What Degas called 'a way of...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/what-degas-called-a-way-of-seeing-must-consequently-bear-a-wide/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/what-degas-called-a-way-of-seeing-must-consequently-bear-a-wide/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
